A Bad Thing Turned Into A Good Thing
by Phia Baker
Summary: Everything was well in Juvia world; she and Gray were happily dating, and she'd be coming of age soon. Everything was good with the world. Well, it had been; then Natsu delivered some news that destroyed Juvia's world. She though this was the end of her happiness. But as it turned out; this was only the beginning. Pairing: Navia. Rated T cause I decided to make Natsu a potty mouth.
1. The Start of Everything

_It was everything Juvia could've wanted._

 _The moon was full, shining down upon the guild hall, and the sky was clear._

 _The guild was lively with music, as the mages danced and laughed together._

 _It was everything Juvia ever wanted._

 _The doors busted open as two men crashed the party they had been invited to in the first place. They both stared Juvia down to her knees._

" _Juvia," they screamed. "We need an answer!"_

Juvia woke up tired and stiff. She knew she and Gajeel should've stayed at her place that at least had a pullout couch, but no! Gajeel's had been closer and he could barely walk. Juvia knew she shouldn't be bitter for sleeping on the floor, but then again, Gajeel hadn't exactly provided any sort of commodity for her.

"Gajeel~", Juvia whined as she shook his shoulder. "We have to get back to guild and report to the master! Juvia knows you are tired but we have to!"

Gajeel gently pushed her hands away, yawning as he sat up slowly. "You just wanna see Gray, you puddle!" he smirked as she made a face. "Just patch me up again and we can go!"

Juvia complied as she cleaned and re-dressed his injuries. What Gajeel said was only partly true. Well….no, it was 100% spot on, but either way they DID have to report back to Master Makarov.

And, well, see Gray of course.

Juvia smiled as she worked on Gajeel's bandages. Gray; HER Gray. It was finally happening! After the last mission she'd gone on with him, he finally seemed to connect with her. Had it been her fighting? Her determination to save him? Perhaps the fact that Juvia had nearly died in that fight? She didn't know, but so far they had been dating for a whole month and everything seemed pretty swell. Gray was more open and kind to her, and she felt a lot less clingy too. She no longer had any rivals; all was good with the world.

Or so she had thought.

Juvia and Gajeel walked back to the guild at a slow pace. Juvia couldn't bring herself to leave Gajeel behind, even though he kept insisting it was fine. Juvia wanted to see Gray, but she was not one to leave her friend behind, specially when he had been pretty badly injured during their quest. She had originally offered to split the reward 60/40, seeing as he needed the money more than she did, and he HAD caught the dark mages while she was out cold, but he'd refused.

Juvia smiled. Gajeel may be one of the most powerful and intimidating wizards in Fairy Tail, but he was secretly a lil' sweet heart. Juvia was so happy she had a friend like Gajeel looking out for her.

As they both walked into the guild, they were greeted with warm smiles and loud salutations. Gajeel was immediately pulled into a hug by Levy. It was short; but very sweet. Juvia smiled from ear to ear. He was such a sweetheart.

As she left her teammate in the hands of his girlfriend, Juvia made her way to the bar. She greeted Mira with a smile as she sat down.

"Juvia, glad to see you alive and well!" Mira smiled. She handed Juvia an Ice Pick _*_ with a wink.

Juvia gave her a big smile, "Mira you read Juvia's mind!" she took a sip, "Have you seen Gray-sama around today?"

Mira shook her head, "He left for a job with Team Natsu shortly after you and Gajeel left; but seeing as you and Gajeel are back, and your job was ranked harder, he should be back by this afternoon!" she smirked at Juvia "You got anything planned?"

Juvia blushed, giving an awkward laugh. "N-Nothing like that, Mira. Juvia wanted to take Gray-sama to the library today."

"How come?"

"Juvia wanted to talk to Gray-sama about the 19th Moon ceremony." Mira waited for Juvia to elaborate, but seeing as she was too busy with her Ice Pick, she gave her a nudge. "Sorry, Juvia spaced out! The 19th Moon ceremony happens on June 19th, when the moon turns red. When a water mage comes of age, they are to stand beneath the moon and gives themselves to it, as the moon is a symbol of power to Water Mage's. And this year Juvia has come of age, or will be of age on the day of the ceremony."

"Oh, so your birthday's coming up then!" Mira peeped excitedly.

"Yes, but Juvia's more concerned with the ceremony. There's just a lot that goes into the ritual of the 19th Moon. The mage has to be in perfect conditions, and the ceremony requires a person who loves the Mage to recite the incantation. Usually it is the parents that recite it, but Juvia lost her parents a long time ago, so Gray-sama offered to help Juvia out!"

"Woah, so I guess it all worked out in the end with Gray then! I'm so glad!"

There was a loud slam as the guild doors burst open aflamed. Natsu stalked in with a face that didn't match his fierce entrance. His cheeks sunk into his bones and his eyes looked tired. Juvia didn't think anyone else noticed seeing as he was still smiling and returning greetings.

Gray and Happy walked in, followed shortly by Lucy, Erza, and her ridiculous luggage wagon.

Juvia got up and walked with a smile towards Gray. The closer Juvia got, the more tired Gray looked, even if he too was smiling warmly. His eyes met hers, and Juvia instantly felt his heart beat faster. She stretched her arms out and he walked into them laying his face on the crook of her neck. Gray had been growing a lot lately, so he had to bend down in order to do that. Juvia didn't mind getting on her tippy toes to hug him though.

"Welcome home Gray-sama!" she said to him kindly.

"Its nice to be back to normal." he responded.

Just as she was about to let go of him, Juvia felt Gray flinch. They broke the hug, and he excused himself to go report to the Master. As Juvia watched him leave, she realized there was another sets of eyes on him aside her own.

She turned to Natsu, who didn't seem to sense her gaze on him. His eyes bore holes in the back of Gray's head, like he wanted nothing more than for it to explode, which wasn't unusual. But something about Natsu's clenched jaw and stiff stance made Juvia worry that this time he would actually blow Gray's head off.

She walked over to him, though his eyes stayed on Gray the whole time. She stood carefully behind him, practically feeling his anger radiating from him, but she was too focused with the task at hand to mind it for now. She leaned in and as gently as she could, she blew on Natsu's ear.

He screamed. She laughed. When she and Gray started dating, she'd gotten more familiar with Natsu, and he was a pretty good friend of hers nowadays.

"OI, JUVIA WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA!?" he flushed as he turned to face her.

"Natsu was staring at Gray-sama!" She made a hopeless face at him. "Could it be Natsu has become Juvia's love rival?"

He gagged at her, "No way! You keep him!" he crossed his arms and turned away.

Juvia sighed mockingly, "If Natsu says so, Juvia supposes she has to keep dating Gray-sama now!" she started walking away when he grabbed her by the elbow "Eh? Natsu?"

He looked even more tired now that he wasn't smiling or brooding. "Juvia can we actually talk for a second?"

Juvia was about to say yes, but her voice was drowned by the sound of someone calling her name.

"Juvia! Are we still going to the library?" Gray walked up next to them, shooting Natsu a glare.

"Oh, how did Gray-sama know Juvia was going to take him to the library?" she tried pulling free from Natsu but he didn't budge. She didn't say anything but she could feel the air around the three of them getting more awkward and...dark, by the moment.

"Mirajane told me," Gray said as he forced Natsu's hand off her. He smiled like nothing had happened. "Shall we?"

"Yeah…" she laced her fingers with his, but before they both left she turned to say goodbye to Natsu.

The words died in her throat. He looked so helpless and tired for a split second; right before he turned to face the guild with a toothy grin.

A fake smile. A smile Juvia used to know so well.

' _What on earth happened to you, Natsu?'_ she wanted to say, but it came out as "Bye-bye!" as she and Gray made their way of of the guild.

* * *

"I'm sorry we didn't find what you were looking for." Gray said as he smoothed Juvia's hair.

The library they had been aiming for had been closed, and just as their luck would have it, no other book store or library in town had the book they had been looking for.

Juvia sighed, "It's okay, Juvia just feels bad for wasting Gray-sama's time."

He laughed, "Hey, your birthday preparations are not a waste of time." He was being very sweet. Juvia appreciated that.

"Gray-sama can come in for tea if he wants to, Juvia wouldn't mind!"

His smile waivered, "It sounds tempting but I'm very tired from the long trip and I kinda wanna get home and sleep."

Juvia nodded, she had felt the same way just last night; not to mention she did drag him all over town looking for the stupid book. "Juvia understands, she'll let Gray-sama rest." she game him a smile and pulled him down for a kiss. He seemed to hesitate before pressing his lips to hers in a chaste kiss. It didn't last long as they were both startled by a loud bang.

"Thunder?" Gray stretched his hand out to see if it was raining.

"Juvia can smell a storm coming, Gray-sama should go before he gets caught in it!" she ushered him out and waved goodbye. "Juvia loves you, Gray-sama!" she called out.

He stopped walking. "...Love you too. Bye Juvia!" And he didn't look back.

Juvia stood out on her porch for a while; it even started to rain, though she wasn't sure if it had been the storm or her.

She knew she was being silly, he had said he loved her. ' _No he said "love you" not "I love you" AND he hesitated'_ she thought. Those were two different things.

And he hadn't looked back to her as he walked away.

Juvia shook her head. She was being paranoid, that's all.

She walked back into her house, her heart almost coming out of her throat from the scream she gave.

Natsu was standing there, dripping wet, staring her down.

"N-N-N-NATSU!? WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN JUVIA'S HOUSE!?" she tried to stop screaming but her heart was in her ears.

"I told you I needed to talk to you, didn't I?" He said seriously.

Juvia huffed. "Yes, but that doesn't mean you get to barge into Juvia's house!" she took a deep breath, trying to calm down. "We will talk, but first dry up! Rent is expensive enough without Natsu damaging the flooring!"

That got him to smile. "That's rich, coming from the girl whose body is literally made of water!"

She stuck her tongue out playfully, tossing him a towel. As she let him dry up, Juvia walked into her kitchen to fetch some tea for her and her intruder/guest.

She set the water for the tea, gathering the tea cups in a tray along with sugar and milk to take to the table. As she re-entered the living room, she saw Natsu with the towel around his neck, sitting glumly on the couch.

She was about to ask what was bothering him so much, when he answered her question.

Juvia stopped dead in her tracks. She lost her grip on the tray, teacups smashing, milk spilling; so much for not damaging the floor.

Soon her own legs gave out, dropping her on the floor. Her ears were ringing, and she couldn't breath.

"Gray's been seeing another girl."

She screamed as thunder cracked; the storm reflecting the growing pain inside her.

* * *

* Ice Pick: an alcoholic drink made with 10 ½ oz of Ice Tea and 1 ½ oz of Vodka

Wow, okay, so this account still exists! Ha ha, I haven't used it in two years! Well I've been watching Fairy Tail, and I have to admit; while Gruvia is one of my faves as well as Nalu, Navia is just so cute! I just have a thing for water and fire okay!?

Anyways, I'll be updating every Friday or so, unless something comes up! Let me know what you think by reviewing! Hope you enjoy my Navia fic cause I've been working very hard on it!

Sincerly, Baker.


	2. The End of Their Thing

"Gray's been seeing another girl."

Juvia sat in silence as tears kept rolling from her eyes. She was frozen, unable to say anything.

The kettle with the hot water started to make noise, which seemed to snap Juvia back into reality. She gasped for air, realizing she hadn't been breathing. She began to cry again.

Natsu didn't know what to do. In retrospect he should've probably found a nicer way to break the news to Juvia, and seeing as he wasn't as close to her as Erza, Gajeel, and the Stipper, he didnt know what to say; how does a friend who you only ever joke with deliver such serious and horrible news?

He got up to turn off the kettle, but he didn't bring it back, seeing as everything was a mess on the floor now. He walked next to Juvia and sat down next to her.

She was a mess. She was shaking and she looked paler than before, not to mention her crying was heartbreaking. It was worse than Erza and Lucy crying, because Juvia rarely so much as frowned. She was always all smiles and kind gestures (along with the occasional love-madness); always redeeming herself for what she once was. Hell, she was the only female in the guild that never called him an idiot or hit him.

"Juvia…?"

He wished he hadn't said anything. As soon as she looked up at him his heart snapped. Her eyes were an endless, deep ocean in torment, her teeth were clenched in a poor attempt to stop sobbing, and her nose was runny. She looked so alone; so lost.

Natsu got up and stormed to the door, fully intending to put Gray in the infirmary for some time. As he grabbed the knob, he felt Juvia throw herself at him, clinging on to his waist.

"Please…!" she sobbed into the small of his back. "Please don't hurt him!" she squeezed his hips trying to keep him here with all the might she could muster. "Juvia knows Natsu would never lie to Juvia...BUT JUVIA REFUSES TO BELIEVE GRAY WOULD DO THIS TO HER!"

That stopped Natsu in his tracks. ' _Gray. Not Gray-sama.'_ "BUT JUVIA HE-!"

"JUVIA KNOWS!" She screamed into his back. "BUT JUVIA DOESN'T WANT TO BELIEVE SHE MEANS SO LITTLE TO HIM THAT HE'D THROW HER ASIDE!"

Her sobbing was muffled as she pressed her face to Natsu's back, and he didn't know what to say, or what to do. So he did nothing. Carefully so she wouldn't have to let go, Natsu slid to floor in front of her door, repositioning Juvia so she was on his lap.

Juvia griped onto Natsu's vest for dear life. "SAY IT ISN'T SO NATSU! TELL JUVIA GRAY WOULDN'T DO THIS TO HER! THAT HE WOULDN'T LET ANOTHER INTO HIS HEART BEFORE AT LEAST LETTING JUVIA OUT!" she kept screaming and sobbing.

Even when he wrapped his arms around her, she felt cold, and frail. Like he was holding something that would break if he let go.

He rocked her back and forth, listening to whatever she could think to lament about. He tried to project heat onto her, trying in vain to make the woman in his arms feel alive, even if she looked completely and utterly dead.

Natsu listened the rain. It was harsh; he could hear it bringing hell down on the streets, and roofs of the town. Everything would surely be flooded the next morning. But he didn't care. He hoped somewhere out there, Gray would be running home in the rain. How could he do this to Juvia?! She was always positive, and talking well of him, and she loved him! She really, really loved him. And yet here she was, crying because that love wasn't returned.

"Natsu…"

He turned to her, realizing that, while her sobbing had subsided, she was far from okay. "Yeah…?"

"Why do you think Gray-sama is seeing another girl?"

"Because while on the job, me and Gray had a room to ourselves. I woke up in the middle of the night cause I had to drain the dragon," Juvia gave a small chuckle at that. "And I noticed he wasn't in bed. He wasn't in the restroom either, so I went looking for him, and found him the bath house part of the estate. He was coming out of the girls side."

"Juvia doesn't want to hear any more…" she shook her head. "Not today…" Juvia nuzzled her head so she could face Natsu. "Juvia can't bare it…!"

She still looked very pale, and her eyes were red, but she had a sad smile on her face. ' _Even now, she's still smiling…?'_ Natsu returned the smile. He loosened her grip on her a bit. He kept rocking her, still attempting to calm her down and warm her up. He could still feel how uneasy she was.

As they rocked back and forth, Natsu started to hum an old song Igneel used to sing to him when he was young. He felt Juvia laugh, and then felt her relax into his embrace. To Natsu's surprise, she started to sing.

" _Hush now, my baby, the daylight is done,_

 _Your scales catching moonlight instead of the sun,_

 _So lay down your head, till the dawn comes anew,_

 _For here there be dragons to watch over you."_

As Juvia sang, Natsu kept humming, both feeling lighter and sleepier as they went on.

" _Dream now, my baby, of life in the clouds,_

 _Your head held so high and your wings spread so proud,_

 _For I know a secret I promise is true,_

 _Here there be dragons, and one of them's you." *_

As the two mages fell asleep, the rain stopped, and the sky cleared to reveal a full moon.

* * *

"JUVIA!? Are you home?" loud knocking echoed throughout the house.

Juvia woke up with a start. She looked around the room, which was a mess from last night's tray dropping accident. She attempted to get up to clean up and answer the door when she became aware of the pair of arms around her. Juvia flushed.

"Juvia! Are you still asleep?" more knocking.

"Natsu!" Juvia whispered. "Natsu wake up! There's someone at Juvia's door!"

While the fire mage stirred, he didn't wake up, he only wrapped his arms tighter around her as he shifted their position.

Juvia wanted to scream, but if she did she would not doubt give a an open invitation to whomever was outside her door to barge in. Natsu most probably wanted to stretch out, seeing as she had slept on his lap all night, so she couldn't hold that against him. What Juvia could hold against him though was the fact that HE TOOK HER DOWN WITH HIM. He was laying his head on her stomach, both arms around her with a vice like grip Juvia couldn't free herself from. She was about to give up and tell whomever was at the door to go away, but then she recognized the voice.

"Juvia, come on, it's me!" Gray laughed as he knocked once more. "Open up!"

Natsu suddenly got up. It was so fast it took Juvia a second to realize what had happened. Natsu held his hand out fully intending to punch Gray's teeth out when he came in.

Juvia got between him and the door. "Is Natsu crazy!?" she hissed at him. "Go hide in Juvia's closet!"

"What!? Why!?" Natsu matched her tone. "He hurt you! He cheated on-"

"Juvia wants to hear it from him…" she said in her regular voice. Juvia looked at Natsu, fresh tears in her eyes.

As much as he didn't want to, Natsu obliged and went into her closet. He threw a robe at her. "Say you were in the shower."

Juvia smiled as she wrapped the robe around herself, opening the door shortly after.

Gray was standing there, and it took all of Juvia's will power not to cry. He was standing there, with his hair shining in the morning sun, his shirt wrinkled at all the right places, and a warm smile on his face.

' _How dare he…?'_ she thought. ' _How dare he make Juvia cry all night, filling her with sadness? How dare he come back the next day and make Juvia fall for him all over again?!'_

He smiled at her, "There you are! I knew you were home!"

She gave a tiny laugh. "Juvia was just in the shower! Sorry to make Gray-sama wait."

As Natsu watched Gray come into her house and sit on her bed, holding her hand, he wanted to scream. How could someone be so...so...ugh! Natsu didn't have words good enough to express how much he hated Gray right now. ' _She called him 'sama' again...fantastic…'_

"Why is Gray-sama here so early today?" Juvia asked trying to take her hand back without making it obvious she wanted to get away from him.

He laughed, "Early? Juvia, it's almost twelve in the afternoon."

"W-W-Well, Juvia hadn't looked at the time this morning! She lost track of time last night!"

"Well, it doesn't matter; I wanted to show you this." He let go of her, and she physically relaxed. From his satchel he pulled out a hardcover blue book. It had silver metal around the corners and was embroidered on the back cover. The front had a metal made moon, with a title that read "The Moon and Her Mages".

Juvia gasped, gently taking the book from him. "Where did Gray-sama get this?"

"On my way to the guild, I passed that book store that was closed yesterday. The owner was just about to open it up, so I asked him if I could go in so I could find the book. And when I got it, I came straight here!"

Juvia wanted to smile. She really, really wanted to show how happy she was to have this book. But it was useless now because " _Gray-sama doesn't love Juvia."_

Both men stood paralyzed. Natsu was too shocked to be happy about this; Gray was too shocked to be angry about it.

"What…?" He asked.

Juvia laughed without humor, slapping her forehead meekly. "Juvia said that out loud, didn't she…?" she choked on a sob. "Say it isn't so, Gray-sama, say you love Juvia with all your heart like, she loves you!"

"I…" Gray sat there looking at her, and all he could think of was that time when Juvia had nearly died when they had first met. When she had fallen off the Phantom Guild Hall, and he had caught her because he didn't want her to die. And yet here she was; dead by his hands. "...Juvia, of course I do...where is this coming from…?"

Juvia began to sob. "Juvia's heard some things...she didn't want to believe them...but you were reluctant to kiss Juvia yesterday. You didn't look back at her, and you hesitated to say you loved her." she clutched her head, shaking it so that maybe, just maybe, this dumb idea of Gray not loving her would just fall out her head.

"Juvia, listen to me, I-!" he reached for he but she backed away.

"Gray…?" Chills ran through his spine, hearing his name without an honorific, without the same affection. "Do you love me?"

He didn't know what to say. No Gray-sama, no refering to herself in the third person; had he really done this to her? He stared into her eyes. Just the other day, they had been sparkling like sapphires, but today they were so dull, they didn't look blue anymore; they looked grey.

Juvia started crying. He had taken too long to answer her question.

He tried to reach for her, but he stopped. He knew when it was time to back down. He placed the receipt for the book inside its cover, making sure to leave it on her bed side. He stopped at the doorway.

"I do love you…" He said, feeling his throat tighten. "...I just-!"

"LEAVE!" Juvia's scream pierced his ears. He saw her finally break, shaking from how violently she was sobbing. "...P-Please...just go…"

He felt his throat tighten. "...I'm sorry…" he rushed out of the house.

Juvia curled up in her bed, clutching her knees, trying her hardest not to cry any more. She had no reason to. She wanted answers, and while they weren't as precise as she had hoped they'd be, she had gotten them. Now she just needed to get him out of her head. But she didn't want to; so much time and effort went into loving him and to throw it away…

Juvia choked.

She felt a hand softly rest on her shoulder. She turned to see Natsu, smiling softly at her. He raised a duffle bag with a little shrug. "What do you say we get away from here for a while?"

* * *

* track/a-dragons-lullaby-2

Chapter two! How thrilling! Thank you all for all the positive reviews!

I'm going to quickly address the guest who was rather rude to me before;

 _Dear madam or sir, this fic is about Natsu Dragneel and Juvia Lockser; it is in not a Graylu fic. There was not one mention of Gray and Lucy being any part of the tale, and she wasn't going to be; but that can be arranged. I've revised the stuff for chapters to come and I can easily make room for Lucy to mingle with the Ice mage. As much as I respect your notps and your opinion, this is my fic, and I am entitled to manipulate the characters as I please. This fic revolves around Navia, so you won't have to worry about anything; but do keep in mind you choose to read this fic, and then called me "a fucking cunt" because it wasn't what you wanted._

Okay other than that, thank you all so much! I'll try to post more often but tomorrow (saturday July 9th) I travel to attend a week long course in Iowa, so I might not post friday. If I don't, I swear I'll upload two chapters when I return ;P

Sincerely and gratefully, Baker.


	3. Over-Night Trip

Part of Juvia was really glad when they didn't see Gray at the guild later that evening. The other part of Juvia was furious, because the reason he wasn't here was because he had gone on a job with Lucy, Erza, and Wendy, which meant that Happy had tagged along to hang out with Carla.

Juvia had a hard time believing Happy was a good friend to Natsu because of this; then again, she had done crazier things for Gray than just tagging along on a mission.

"JUVIA!" Natsu snapped his fingers in front of her face.

"WHAT!?" She slapped the hand away.

"Does this job sound good to you?" He held out a flyer.

 **MALE AND FEMALE MAGE NEEDED**

 **UNDERCOVER WORK QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED**

 **DETAILS GIVEN UPON ACCEPTANCE**

 **REWARD:**

 **150,000 EACH**

"That sounds good! Juvia needs the money." She took the flyer from him. "But it's rather far, is Natsu sure he wants to ride the train for so long?"

"Not at all!" he laughed. "But that's as far away as we can get from Magnolia and from the living ice-dick-ole!" He paused with a dumb look on his face. "Get it!? Icicle, Ice-dick-ole!? Cause Gray's a massive dick…?"

Juvia couldn't help but laugh, "This is going to be a long trip isn't it?" she gave him a pat on the shoulder as she went to confirm the job with Mira. She turned back to him as she reached the bar. "AND NO CURSING!" He stuck his tongue out at her in reply.

She didn't notice him still smiling at her when she turned away.

* * *

Juvia and Natsu walked down the aisle of the train. It was booked for them by their employer, which they both appreciated since neither one wanted to pay for the transportation. The train was very bulky on the outside, and it had looked very fancy. From what they'd seen of the other cabins on their way to theirs, the inside was very fancy too.

"This is your car Madam, Sir." the attendant stepped aside to let Juvia and Natsu enter the brown and cream room "The train will be leaving in ten minutes, so feel free to settle. Once we're at a steady pace, you'll be allowed to explore the other cars such as the dining car, the lounge car, or the recreational car." The attendant closed the door, then peeked her head in once again. "Oh, and please refrain from engaging in intercourse while on the train; it's not allowed!" She winked at them, and then she was gone.

Juvia flushed red, attempting to place their bags in the overhead compartment. On the other hand, Natsu had his heart in his throat.

'Freaking attendant giving me a heart attack!' He turned to look at the clock; 5:30. At the speed they were going, they'd get there tomorrow. "So how do we even open the bed?"

Juvia walked over to stand in front of him. "Juvia is not sure, but supposedly, since this is a new model train, everything can be done via the control panel." She pointed to the little screen near the door.

Natsu turned it on, scrolling through the options. 'Lights, call button, medical emergency, dinner reservation...BED! Aha!'

As soon as Natsu pressed the button, the bed came out of the wall, but it did so with such force, it hit the back of Juvia's legs, making her lose her balance and fall onto the bed, dragging Natsu with her.

As Natsu hovered over Juvia with both of his arms on either side of her, he prayed to everything he knew he could pray to that the train wouldn't start moving yet; last thing he needed was to puke on Juvia.

"Here are the sheets, covers and pillows you need for the bed!" the attendant from before barged into their cabin. She gave a mocking gasp. "SIR! I thought I TOLD you not to do this!" she dropped the stuff inside the room, mouthing "go get her!" and giving him thumbs up.

Natsu got up. For a fancy train, with beds that came out of the wall, the workers sucked. He stormed towards the cabin door, picking up the bedding and pillows and locking the door.

He turned, ready to apologize to Juvia. She was laughing. She was trying really hard not to laugh, but she was shaking and turning red from trying to hold it in. Natsu threw a pillow at her.

Juvia gasped. "Excuse me? Is Natsu picking a fight with Juvia?!" He threw another pillow at her.

* * *

The fun was fun while it lasted, but then the train started to move, and they were fucked.

Juvia had retracted the bed, and was now sitting on the opposite seat to his. She was trying really hard for his sake to keep a straight face; but Natsu at this moment was probably the funniest thing she had ever seen. Natsu Dragneel, son of Igneel, Fire Dragon Slayer; reduced to a sad noodle while on a train.

Natsu on the other hand wanted to die. He had never felt more self conscious in his life. There was no Happy to attempt and cheer him up. There was no Lucy or Erza to distract Juvia from his putty like state. And there was no Gray because fuck Gray, that's why. Not that he would ever say that to Juvia's face or at least not yet. He'd gotten the bad habit of swearing casually from swearing too much in battle, and he knew Juvia didn't like it, but every now and then it slipped.

As the train passed a turn, Natsu's soul basically left his body and he fell off the seat. Juvia exploded into a fit of giggles. So much for the sweet little princess Natsu had made her out to be; she was enjoying his pain, he could tell.

"Why doesn't Natsu come sit with Juvia?" She patted the seat next to her. He eyed her suspiciously. "Juvia doesn't bite!" she giggled.

Natsu dragged himself to the seat, immediately collapsing on Juvia's lap. She squealed and then snickered on his behalf. He wanted to die.

Juvia reached for the panel, pressing the call button. "Star Lane Train, how may we help you?"

"Do you have any motion sickness medicine?"

"Yes ma'am, we'll have someone bring it to your cabin!"

"Thank you!" she ended the call.

Natsu looked up at her in disgust, trying not to puke on her as he spoke. "Why...didn't...you do that...before?!"

Juvia shrugged, "Juvia wanted to see Natsu suffer for a little while."

"IT'S BEEN THREE HOURS!" he rolled on his side, so if he puked, it would be on the cabin floor, not Juvia's lap.

She laughed.

There was a knock on the cabin, and the attendant came in without waiting for an answer. "Here are some Transderm Scōp patches. Apply them behind the ear.*"

Juvia took the patches confused. "Juvia thought the door was locked?"

"It was." The attendant left.

Juvia chuckled as she open the packet and placed a patch behind both of Natsu's ears. "Lay down facing Juvia."

He still felt sick, and a little embarrassed, but he complied. Juvia began to stroke his hair and rub his temples. It felt really nice. Not only were her hands soft, but they were nice and cool on his hot and slightly sweaty forehead. He could've fallen asleep like this. How could it get any better than this?

That's when Juvia started to hum.

 _"I love the pitter-patter_

 _I hear upon my window pane_

 _My troubles cease to matter_

 _When I hear the lullaby of the rain_

 _I've talked with every flower_

 _That blooms along the country lane_

 _They a re happy in a shower_

 _`Cause they love the lullaby of the rain_

 _Although the rain may be teeming_

 _I a m cozy and warm_

 _And I catch up on my dreaming_

 _All during the storm_

 _Some like their weather sunny_

 _Come cloudy days, and they complain_

 _I know they think I'm funny_

 _But I love the lullaby of the rain_

 _On the roof or on the window pane,_

 _How I love the lullaby of the rain!" **_

Natsu felt like a kid again. He felt warm and happy. Even though he knew it wasn't raining, he could feel it; he could hear it. Juvia's voice brought him back to that spring night so long ago; when Igneel nursed him back to health from a fever. How he would tell him stories and sing him songs. How he'd caress his head to ease the pain; Natsu wanted to cry.

He hadn't felt this cared for in years.

"How do you feel?"

Natsu opened his eyes. He was staring at the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. She had pasty white skin, and wavy blue hair. Her nose was small, her lips soft pink, and her eyes weren't symmetrical; but there was something about how those eyes made him feel that made them precious like gem stones.

There was something so pure and good about someone who was this kind after being hurt just a few hours ago. To others she might be plain, but to Natsu, right here, right now there was this glow about her, and it wasn't just the ceiling light right behind her head.

Juvia was delicate, and charming, and alluring, and another fancy word Natsu couldn't think off. She flashed him a bewitching smile. Suddenly he remembered she had asked a question.

"Y-Yeah, I feel good." he blushed, realizing a moment later he wasn't lying. He sat up slowly, afraid to jinx it, but he felt pretty good. "Oh man, this is nice, I can enjoy the ride now! Are you hungry?"

"Natsu was almost puking not so long ago, and now he wants to eat something?" Juvia mocked him. He just smiled at her. "Fine, let's go to the dining car."

* * *

As Natsu dressed the bed, Juvia was in the cabin's bathroom changing. He took off his vest and shoes, placing his scarf next to everything, so they could be ready for use tomorrow. He laid down in bed with a smile. Whenever he and his team traveled by train, one of them or all of them would get food and eat in front of him, which was fucking rude. This time, however, he had gotten to enjoy a good meal of a salad and some roast pork with gravy, potatoes, and stuffing.

He was also pleasantly surprised at how much Juvia ate. Lucy rarely finished her food around him; even if the serving was small. Juvia hadn't had a huge dinner like he had, but she did have a large caesar salad with chicken and drank like five cups of water.

'No wonder she's been in the bathroom for forever.' Natsu laughed.

"What does Natsu find so funny?" Juvia asked as she came out of the bathroom in a t-shirt and sweatpants, her clothes neatly folded, with her boots and hat in hand.

"Oh nothing," Natsu said teasingly. "Just the fact that you drank five cups of yourself today."

It took Juvia a second to get the joke, "Har har, Natsu's so funny!" she said sarcastically as she climbed into bed with him.

The bed was pretty big, so they both had some space, and they had a lot of pillows; if they felt it necessary, they could always build a division. This wasn't awkward at all.

"Is it okay if Juvia goes to sleep?" She turned to face him.

"Yeah, totally; I'm pretty beat too."

She got up to turn off the light, and as she was climbing into bed she heard him say "Don't wet our bed, okay?" and he felt her roll her eyes.

* * *

Natsu did try to sleep, but a little after he succeeded, he was awoken by Juvia. Natsu had been learning a lot of things about her on this trip so far, but his personal favorite three so far were that she: A) could sing really nice. B) had an appetite. And C) was a cuddler.

Around 2 am or so, Juvia had shifted close to his side and had wrapped her leg around his, and had her head and her arms resting on his chest. He didn't mind that this was happening, mind you; what he was concerned about was she wasn't aware this was happening.

He had her arm AROUND her, but not ON her because he hadn't gotten her consent to do this. But he didn't wanna push her off him, cause it felt nice.

She was naturally cool like water, which felt really nice against his bare skin since Natsu was a living heat machine. Not to mention her hair smelled kinda nice. Natsu could tell her shampoo was apple scented, but there was a salty smell to it too, like she had just been in the ocean. Maybe it was because she was 100% water instead of 73%. He didn't think that sounded right.

Juvia stirred in her sleep, turning on her side, facing away from him, but her body facing up.

Now he had a fourth favorite thing about her; D) Juvia had a stomach.

She wasn't fat; far from it, but unlike Lucy and Erza, Juvia's stomach wasn't flat, but rather a little chubby. And for some reason, Natsu really liked that. It made her feel more real, and that was important since she was literally a walking, talking, very pretty water bottle.

Juvia's hand started patting the bed, then started to pat him until she found his arm. She pulled on it so it laid on the curve of her waist, resting on her stomach.

Natsu did the only there was to do; roll with it. 'I suppose I have no other choice but to sleep, since I can't possibly move or wake her up now!'

He closed his eyes, adjusting his head so he could still smell her hair.

* * *

* health/first-aid-health-basics/motion-sickness/prescription-patch

** lullaby_of_the_rain_lyrics_glenn_ 

Yay I remembered to update! ;p

You guys, this week has been awesome! I had a "college experience" here in Iowa! Super neat, met great people, and learned a bunch!

I might (or might not, no promises) start updating more regularly just cause I feel bad making you wait when I hate that too. Now that I'm home-free for a while, I'll see how far into the story I write, and next friday I will see about any shortage on the update time!

Also to address the guest who mentioned that Juvia was "too happy" or OOC:

 _Have you ever date someone you really like? I once did and it made me so giddy and happy. That's why I wrote Juvia this way. Because during this "past month" in the fic universe, she and Gray had been dating, which made her the happiest child in the world. Not to mention, they only reason cannon Juvia cries and gets mad is because of Gray/Lucy interaction or back in Phantom Lord cause she was always being thrown aside. So when Gray is 'hers', she and Lucy made peace, and thus she became one of the happiest girls in this guild._

 _Plus if I remember correctly Juvia was the one that using love, kindness, and friendship, made Meredy not killed herself. Juvia is a good character who was mostly used for sad stalker jokes when she was first introduced. I will not deny she does tend to over react; but I want to write my favorite character as a happy person._

 _You are more than welcomed to not read the fic! Because if the idea of a happy Juvia makes you mad, you should go read a fic that writes her in a way you enjoy. I've read fics where Gray is a total ass, and I don't like those kind of stories, so I don't read them. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and I respect that; really do._

 _But if I'm writing this fic, I'm writing her happy; sorry to disappoint._


	4. Davensfort Manor

Juvia and Natsu had thought the train to be super fancy compared to all the other trains they had ridden. But the car that had been waiting for them at Daven's Port trains station was unbelievable. AND it was also charmed to stay still, and while that was meant for bumpy roads, it cancelled out Natsu's motion sickness well.

Natsu and Juvia sat in comfortable silence on the far seat of the car, still feeling shy about waking up so close to each other. The driver kept looking back to check on them, smiling, offering food or drinks, and talking about Daven's Port.

Apparently, while the city was small compared to Magnolia, Daven's Port was one of the oldest cities and home of one of the wealthiest men in Fiore. Mr. Orson Davensfort's great-great-great-great grandfather had built this town with his own hands, as a safe place for mages to practice magic without fear.

From what they could see from the town, it was very serene and peaceful. Juvia gave a dreamy sight. "This town is so beautiful!" she stuck her tongue out to Natsu. "And Natsu's going to accidently wreck it!"

"I am not!" Natsu pouted.

The driver chuckled. "I'd prefer if you didn't, my boy. Mr. Davensfort has a mission for you!"

* * *

To say Davensfort Manner was nice was a huge understatement. As they drove down a stone path towards iron gates, a huge white house came into view. The Manor was grand; white marble covered in vines and roses, with pillars holding a balcony above the entrance door. Neatly trimmed hedges surrounded the house, and a gold and marble fountain decorated the roundabout driveway. The windows were made of stained glass, reflecting the sun onto the marble in bright colors.

The driver opened the door for them, as two maids took care of their bags. "Follow me," The driver said, as he pushed the doors open. Natsu's jaw dropped.

The inside of the house held another fountain, except this one was made of Onyx and Opal gemstones. Two sets of staircases led to the upstairs area, and in between them laid a living room the size of Juvia's apartment. The walls were covered from floor to ceiling in portraits of, presumably, the Davensfort family. But the one that caught Natsu's and Juvia's eyes, was the one of the girl with the orange hair and the blue eyes, who was unbelievably beautiful.

"She was beautiful, wasn't she?" A short tubby man spoke from the top of the stairs. "Her name was Ambrosia Hebe Davensfort, and was my late wife." He started to make his way down the stairs. "She passed away a month ago, but only recently has the word gotten outside of town. And I am afraid."

"Afraid of what?" Natsu asked.

"You see, while I have security throughout the Manor as well as surveillance, my wife was a Mage, and kept everything safe in my town and my home. She was a very powerful woman, though her looks fooled many; specially with that big smile of hers." Natsu shot a glance at Juvia. The man reached the bottom of the stairs. "You see, Ambrosia was was a Siren; a mage that could control her enemies by just batting her eyes and saying 'please'. And now that she's gone, I'm afraid I face a great fear."

"What is it?" Juvia stepped in.

"Before Ambrosia married me, she was to marry the leader of her old guild; a dark one. Because of her great power, the guild stayed away from the town for a long time, enough so, that she and I had a child. We lived happily, the three of us, for a long time. But now that she's gone, I'm afraid they'd come back for me, and my people."

"Okay, so where's Mr. Davensfort so he can tell us what to do?" Natsu said, who had been looking around distractedly .

Juvia wanted to melt into a puddle, which she could, but that would be even more embarrassing. The man gave a hearty laugh. "I am, sonny!" Natsu looked embarrassed. "I know my gingery mustache, freckled cheeks, and big tummy don't make me look like a tycoon, but I am, and I take pride in my kind appearance like my wife did in hers." He offered his arm to Juvia. "Follow me to my office, young mages; we have a lot to talk about."

Natsu grumbled as he watched Juvia being led up the stairs by a guy shorter than her, but he followed anyways; not that he had a choice.

* * *

"YOU WANT JUVIA TO WHAT?" Natsu spat his tea out as Juvia flushed.

Mr. Davensfort chuckled. "I need her to pretend to be my fiance."

"Why, though!?" He insisted.

"Because I need to catch the head of the guild. I know he'll come to the ball, seeking my head and my daughter's on a stick. Having a new woman by my side who's younger and so soon after Ambrosia's death will drive him mad and drive him out. I know he'll come to the ball and that's when you catch him."

"Yeah okay," Natsu complained. "But why does she get to play wealthy princess while I have to be a servant?"

Mr. Davensfort raised an eyebrow. "Would you prefer it if you played the part of my bride to be instead?" Natsu shut up.

"When will the ball be taking place?" Juvia asked as she set her tea down.

"Tonight," He rang a bell; a pair of maids and a pair of butlers came in, grabbing Natsu and Juvia and pulling them out of the room. "You kids better start getting ready!"

"Don't you worry, Mr. Davensfort, sir! I promise you no harm will come to you or your family!" Natsu flashed him a grin.

He laughed as he waived them out.

As the servants closed the door, Mr. Davensfort turned to face a portrait of his late wife. "I'll keep everything safe; our house, our town, our daughter." he sniffled with a smile on his face. "She has the same smile as you, that Lockser girl; no wonder she has someone as driven and kind hearted as him."

* * *

Juvia was dragged into a room with floor to ceiling mirrors and windows, with white curtains flowing and adorning the high ceilings. One maid helped her step on a round step stool, while the other took her hat off and placed in on one of the white couches in the room.

As the long haired maid walked off towards the back of the room, the short haired maid helped Juvia remove her shoes and dress, and then proceeded to measure her.

Soon the short haired maid walked off too, leaving Juvia looking at herself in the mirror. Juvia didn't often look at herself in a full length mirror; it wasn't that she didn't like what she saw, she just felt so...plain...with her chubby face and pale skin.

"Miss?" Juvia snapped back into reality, feeling guilty she had been poking at herself again. She hadn't done that in a while. But yesterday on the train, she spent so much time in bathroom judging herself. Had Gray gone off with another girl because Juvia wasn't good enough?

She hated that she cared so much.

The maids brought forth a rack of dresses, all long and of different colors, and a cart with shoes.

As the maids had an argument about whether she should try on the white and gold dress first or the yellow and blue dress first, Juvia returned her attention to the mirror.

Was it her hair? It was a little unkempt, but it was always clean, and it smelled nice. Was it the little bits of fat on her body? He body was made of water, so she could control how her body looked; but she liked having big thighs and a bit of tummy; it made her body feel more genuine and real. She picked at her bra and her panties...they weren't anything special, and they weren't daring or sexy. Juvia liked long skirts, and long sleeves, and feeling covered, and if that had been what drove Gray away, so be it! If Lucy could wear miniskirts everywhere, and some of Erza's best armor had her stomach exposed, why should anyone judge Juvia for what she wore?

"Is there a problem with your knickers miss?" a little girl suddenly appeared next to her in the mirror.

"W-What?! No, Juvia was just…" She trailed off. ' _Juvia was just trashing her body in her head.'_

"Miss Ophilia, we didn't hear you come in!" The short haired maid said

"Now that you're here, why don't you help us pick a dress for Miss Lockser?" said the long haired maid.

"Yes, wouldn't she look good in my dress?" the short haired maid help up the the blue and yellow dress.

"No, she'd look better in my dress!" the long haired maid held up the gold and white dress.

Miss Ophilia walked to both dresses and eyed them for a bit. "I think…" she ripped the dresses from both maid's hands. "They would both not suit her. Bright colors will wash her out, dark colors will make her ghostly. What she needs is something that compliments her skin, and her hair." the little girl walked up to the dress racked and pulled out a matte pink dress. "Try this on, and I'LL pick the rest of the stuff."

Juvia slipped the dress on her body, surprised it fit her so well; the lace sleeves were a little loose and hung from her shoulders, but they did so in a way that it looked intentional. The back of the dress had buttons that looked very elegant, and exposed her back in a very classy way. The top of the dress was very flattering for her body, and the skirt of the dress started to flare out at her hips. The skirt was flowy and puffy in a graceful way; it twirled nicely and was easy to move in without being massive.

"How do you feel?" Miss Ophilia asked her. Juvia turned to the little girl, but no words came out, just a big smile. Ophilia felt her own smile waiver. ' _She smiles like my mom…'_ "Well, um, no look is complete without some goodies! Do you know how to walk in heels?" Juvia shook her head. "Ugh, well, the dress is long enough, so I suppose I'll let you wear your boots….they sorta match the dress anyway…." she huffed. "BUT! You are wearing these!"

Juvia took the brown box from her, opening it, and almost dropping it in surprise. Inside the box was a pair of pink moonstone earrings. Juvia put them on and looked at herself in the mirror. Even with her unruly hair, even with the pudge in her thighs and stomach, even with tired eyes from crying; she still looked beautiful.

Juvia flipped her hair; Gray can go and get with whoever he wants, because that didn't change the fact that Juvia Lockser, the S-Class Water Woman of Fairy Tail, was a amazing.

Juvia's confidence faltered once more...Gray had been the first to see that...

* * *

"I feel stupid; I don't want to wear this!" Natsu cried as he desperately tried to fix the tie he had been given. "Why does this even have sleeves?! Who even WANTS a shirt with sleeves?! I haven't worn a shirt with sleeves like these in years!"

"My boy, this is my event and all my workers will look respectable!" Mr. Davensfort said as he swatted Natsu's hands away to fix the tie. He was being so impossible, the buttlers had given up. "I don't need any shirtless, sleeveless hooligans running around! How does that girlfriend of yours let you walk around so indecently?"

Natsu pulled away, undoing the tie. "SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!"

"She's not?" Mr. Davensfort tried to tie the tie again. "Well, that's a shame; I've seen the way you've been looking at her."

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Natsu mumbled.

"Kid, I've been in love before. I know all the ways it starts and all the endings it can have." He reached over to the coat hanger to fetch a vest. "Put this on will ya? What I mean to say is; maybe something's there that you never noticed before?"

"You're crazy!" Natsu said as he slipped on the vest, allowing Mr. Davensfort to adjust it as he pleased. "She's just my friend! I would never-! I mean, she's my best friends-! Well, was Gray's-! UGH, no that's not what I-!"

"Calm down, my boy!" The man laughed as he adjusted the golden buttons on the vest, along with the gold chains. "I see...she's taken already?"

Natsu shook his head. "She recently left him, or he left her? I'm not sure...he cheated on her, I think; I have no solid evidence, but it's not like he denied it; he's probably moved on already…" Mr. Davensfort helped him into his jacket. "But I know her...she's determined and stubborn; clingy even...she won't be able to let go of him as easily."

Mr. Davensfort nodded, finishing with Natsu's attire. He gently pushed him into the chair, so he could fix his messy pink hair. "You wanna know something, kid?" He started to brush Natsu's hair. "When I met Ambrosia, it was around the time she was still in her dark guild; still in love with her Master. But at the time, he didn't know how much he valued her. She took pity in me when she and her team raided me and my father all those years ago. That night, I knew she was the woman I wanted by my side for the rest of my life."

Mr. Davensfort started to clip Natsu's hair back. Natsu didn't want to say anything, afraid the old man wouldn't finish the story.

"I discovered the guild by accident. I had been trying to get home after the raid and I just stumbled across it; when I saw her outside by the door, I knew it was fate telling me she was indeed the one. That night, she learned I was nearsighted, which meant I could never be under her spell; which meant everything I did and said was from the heart. When time came for her to leave and be with me, of course she had lingering feelings, and it was then, when one of the pillars of his guild left, that the Master realized what happened; what he had lost."

He turned Natsu's chin up, so he could look at himself in the mirror. "What I'm trying to say, Natsu, is that if you expect Juvia to stay put and wait for her feelings for this guy to disappear, nothing gets done. Don't give this guy a chance to get her back if he's as bad as you say he is! Fight for what you want to be yours!" he patted in in the back.

Natsu got up and walked to the mirror. Was this really him?

This guy looked cleaner, and more mature. His hair was nicely pulled back; his pants weren't baggy, but rather form fitting and stylish. He was wearing three top layers, which he felt sort of hot in, since he was so used to not really wearing anything. And yet, there was something so sharp about the way he looked; the way he felt.

He liked it.

He smiled at his reflection. As soon as he could; as soon as he felt it was right. He would tell Juvia about how he was starting to feel.

* * *

HOLLY CRAP I ALMOST FORGOT TO UPDATE I COULD'VE SWORN IT WAS THURSDAY!

Hi! Alright, so I wrote a little more since the last time we spoke! I'm trying to finish the fic before the end of summer, so I will most probably start posting more often starting next week cause this week I've been crazy busy.

Anyways! Thanks again to all the favorites and follows and the reviews! Omg you guys have me squealing in delight. Now (this is our new tradition guys XD) I'll be addressing a guest who dislikes something in my story.

 _I do not hate Nalu. Please look at this (_ _art/Fairy-Tail-Shipping-Meme-622232098_ _) and let me live in peace. I am allowed to ship whatever to want, regardless if I hate other ships those same characters are in. I like Gruvia and I do like Lucy/Nalu. It just so happens I also like Navia._

I didn't feel to rant for too long this time.

Okay, so, once again; thank you all soooo much!

See ya next friday ;3


	5. A Ball Of Pent Up Emotion

Natu was lined up with all the butlers at the far end of the room. He watched the entire town come in, and mingle with each other; even the little kids were dancing and prancing around. Natsu wished he could join them. The music was lively and the ballroom was beautiful, not to mention the food smelled amazing. But Natsu was supposed to be a server, and he had received strict instructions to not eat anything.

Natsu sighted. His arm was kinda stiff from just standing here holding a tray of food he couldn't touch. He wished Happy was here; but he might be a dead give away about a wizard being here. He looked up at the stairway, hoping to see Juvia walking down. Nope; not yet.

He kept his eyes on the crowd. There was a big chance the guy they were looking for was here already. Mr. Davensfort had said the guild wasn't an official guild, so while their Master was the most powerful wizard in the guild, he wasn't in Master Makarov's level or anything.

He may have brought back up, or maybe not; either way, no one in the room looked like they were evil. All the women were wearing flowy dresses, most probably of silk or some other material. All the men were also wearing colorful suits and funny hats. There was so much laughter and dancing; how could anyone here be evil?

"Mr.?" a little boy in a pink skirt came over to him. "Can I have a cake?" Natsu lowered his tray and gave him a smile as the little boy took his cake and smiled back.

How could anyone here not be good?

The music slowed to a stop, and Natsu's blood curled, was it the dark guild?

"Ladies and Gentlemen," Mr. Davensfort appeared at the top of the stairs. "Thank you for coming to the celebration; as you all know, everyone is always welcomed in my home." a loud cheer came from the crowd. "Tonight, I'm here to introduce you to someone; my bride-to-be, Jula Locknester."

' _Wait, what about Juvia?'_ Natsu looked up. He stopped, his heart in his ears.

Juvia stood next to Mr. Davensfort, holding onto his arm, waving at the crowd with a shy smile. She looked so beautiful; he could hear everyone agreeing with him. She looked so stunning in that pink dress she was wearing. Her hair was tied into a braid that curled up around her neck over her right shoulder. She looked undeniably gorgeous; she just didn't look like the Juvia Natsu knew.

As she looked around the room, her eyes landed on Natsu, and her smile got wider; softer. Natsu smiled back. He couldn't say she didn't look absolutely radiant, because she did. But the smile she had been giving everyone else; that hadn't been her smile. But the one she gave him, just him; that's the Juvia Natsu loved.

* * *

Juvia was done with this job before she even walked out into the balcony. After helping secure Ophilia in her room, she sat by the top of the stairs with Mr. Davensfort to wait for the entrance queue. Her palms were sweaty and her face felt weird having so much makeup on. _**(AN: Water proof makeup.)**_

"Don't be nervous," Mr. Davensfort patted her knee. "It's not like you have to actually marry me!" she gave him a weak smile. "What's on your mind, kiddo?"

"Juvia recently had a big fight with her boyfriend. And even though Juvia really likes her boyfriend, he really hurt her." she took a deep breath, trying really hard not to cry. "He really made Juvia feel like she was nothing…"

He reached over to give her a half hug. "Let me tell you a secret Juvia, even when you feel like you're nothing; like you have no one, you have to look up. Because maybe, just maybe, there'll be someone right there waiting for you. Willing to make you happy no matter what." the music stopped, and Mr. Davensfort got up. "Well thats us; dont forget our cover story and your new name, okay?" he helped her up. "And remember; always look up!"

Juvia stayed behind and waited for him to introduce her. ' _Look up, what's he talking about?!'_ She heard her code name and walked over to stand next to Mr. Davensfort, smiling and waving at the crowd, trying her best to look like a happy woman with her beloved.

As she scanned the crowd, Juvia felt her smile become genuine. Natsu was staring at her, with his jaw practically on the floor. She giggled, feeling the smile growing wider the more she looked at him.

As she and Mr. Davensfort made their way downstairs, she gave a small laughed. She'd been looking down the whole time, and she still found someone that made her happy.

As Mr. Davensfort dragged her to the center of the room, a waltz started to play. Juvia almost melted in relieve. The original plan had been to dance a tango, to provoke the Mages even further, but Juvia had refused after Mr. Davensfort demonstration with the maid.

She felt a little silly, dancing a waltz at such close proximity to someone who was smaller than her by a good foot or more. She had to remind herself to look at him lovingly rather than looking embarrassed or like she was about to burst out laughing.

The music suddenly stopped. But it didn't stop gracefully like it had done before; this time it stopped because someone threw the violinist across the room. The crowd parted as three wizards walked towards Juvia and her short dance partner.

The one on the right wore a white rabbit mask, with his piercing red eyes fixed on Juvia. The rest of his body was engulfed inside a long black cloak. The one on the left was a rather ugly girl. She didn't mean in it a bad way; everything that could've been pretty about her just seemed...dead. Her blonde hair was more of a white color, her green eyes looked muddy, and her skin was so pale, you could see her veins. She was also dressed in black, except she seemed to wearing a t-shirt three times too big for her.

The one in the middle didn't look like anything Juvia had ever seen before. He was tall even though he was hunched over; his spine creating visible spikes through his shirt, like it spine was trying to escape from his body. His hair was oily and dark, melting off his skull. And his hands were so bony, Juvia was almost sure he had no skin on them at all.

"This is the best you can do?!" his teeth were all pointed like an animals, and his breath smelled like death. "And after having dated the most powerful wizard in my guild?" he cackled and the people at his side cackled with him.

Juvia took a step forward, feeling Natsu's magic right behind her. "Perhaps an introduction should be given? This is my friend the Fire Dragon Slayer, and I am the Water Woman Of the Element Four!" the Dark mages stopped laughing. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance." Juvia and Natsu charged.

* * *

Natsu and Juvia sat at the foot of the staircase, panting and sweating. They were both munching on leftover food from the ball, which Natsu devoured with a shit eating grin, since was eating the food he had been told not to eat.

Juvia did a quick scan of the room; the chandelier was shattered and on the floor, all three tables were broken, the floor was a mess, and one of the windows was smashed from when the guy with the rabbit mask tried to escape. Other than that the night went pretty good. The three dark wizards were being shipped to the Magic Council and there was a pretty good chance no one else form the guild would come by.

All of the civilians had been cleared during the battle and there had been few with minor injuries. Well, except for the violinist, who broke both his legs and his arm, and was now on paid vacation from Mr. Davensfort. Juvia threw her head back with a little laugh. "Well, Natsu, it seems our work is done."

Natsu huffed. "Those guys were not easy, but in the end they were no match for us." She gave him a high five. "What did Mr. Davensfort say about the dress?"

Juvia looked down at herself. She was grateful her body was practically indestructible considering how the dress looked. The skirt was in shreds and a large part of it was missing on the left side. The top of the dress was also pretty much in shreds, the lace sleeves had been completely ripped off. She didn't want to think about how her hair looked. "He said it was fine, though, Juvia is more concerned with what his daughter will say!"

They shared a laugh. Natsu's outfit hadn't lasted long either, and funny enough, the sleeves had been the first to go. "Well for what it's worth, you looked very nice Juvia," he said sheepishly.

"Oh really?" Juvia smirked. "Natsu thought Juvia looked nice?" he blushed as he frowned at her, sticking his tongue out. She looked around the room once more, making sure they were alone. "Why don't we dance? After all, Natsu attended this big ball and he didn't dance a single song!"

"I don't dance, Juvia." he laughed.

She got up and offered him her hand. How could he say no to her? She looked inhumanly good for someone who'd just beaten someone up. Her brown boots no longer hidden by a fluffy pink gown, her dress a wreck, her hair a mess; she looked more beautiful than before.

He rolled his eyes and took her hand. "This doesn't change the fact that I don't know how to dance, Juvia!"

She laughed, "In that case let Juvia lead." She placed his hand on her hip, and her hand on his shoulder, holding the other one. She started to waltz. "Okay, follow, Juvia's feet. One, two, three, four; one, two, three, four!"

Natsu kept his eyes on his feet, trying really hard not to step on Juvia. As he loosened up and he let the rhythm take control of him, he started to lead instead. He looked up at Juvia to see her making a face at him. They both laughed. He liked this better; him and Juvia rather than her and old man Davensfort. Not only were her and Natsu of similar age, but he was also taller than her; it was only by a little, but still.

"And Natsu said he couldn't dance!" She laughed.

"Well, I can do many things with the right motivation and the right company!" He gave her a smile.

"Juvia likes your company too, Natsu." He stopped dancing. She did too.

"Hey Juvia, I-"

"Mr. Dragneel! Miss Lockser!" a maid came running from downstairs. "You're room is ready, please follow me!"

Juvia smiled at him, and he smiled back. ' _It's not the right time,'_ he thought, and he took her hand and followed Juvia up the stairs. ' _Next time for sure though!'_

* * *

Juvia sat on the edge of the bed brushing her hair, trying to make it look decent once more. Natsu rummaged through his bag, getting his scarf out and putting it on once more.

"There we go! I am Natsu once more!" He flopped onto the bed next to her. "You need to help?"

Juvia gave him a look. "Natsu won't hurt Juvia?"

He gave her a fake gasp. "Juvia, you insult me and hurt me deeply!" she rolled her eyes and handed him the brush. "Today Mr. Davensfort brushed my hair, so I know it feels nice when someone else brushes it."

He didn't hear her complain, but he could see her reflection on the mirror, and she had a very happy, sleepy smile on her face. Her hair, while very tangled, still smelled very nice and was very soft to the touch.

As he brushed her hair, he couldn't help but feel thankful Happy had gone off with Carla; this was his and Juvia's mission, the one they'd remember as their own. He wanted to be able to look back at this mission and remember how pleasant and calm he felt at this moment; without Happy teasing him or Juvia. And boy was he fucking glad Gray wasn't here.

Juvia turned to face him, but just as she was about to say something, she yawned instead. Natsu laughed as she blushed. "You tired?"

She nodded. "Is Natsu?"

"Yeah, it's been a long day. Let's turn in; tomorrow is going to end up in a long ass train ride!"

She nudged his arm as he cursed. Natsu turned off the lights and soon they were both in bed. He hear Juvia moving around. "Natsu?"

"Yeah?" he turned to face her.

"Juvia's had a lot of fun with you. Thank you for bringing Juvia with you!" she reached out to pull his face to hers. She kissed him on the forehead. "Juvia feels so much better after spending time with you. If it wasn't for Natsu-sama, Juvia might still be crying in her room." even in the dark, he could feel her big smile. "Goodnight!" she turned to her side once more.

Natsu stayed the same for a while, staring at her back. He couldn't move, and his face felt warm.

' _Natsu-sama…'_

He smiled to himself.

But the smile didn't last.

Sure; she was all smitten with him right now, but what about when they got back to Fairy Tail, and Gray was there? Would she cling onto him like she had before they'd dated? What if when they got back to the guild there was someone else waiting for her? Someone more compatible for her.

He was a fire mage and her body was literally water. What if they didn't work out?

Natsu shifted to look up at the ceiling. He didn't know why he was so afraid. He'd gone head to head with some of the strongest wizards he knew, and the mere thought of liking the girl next to him reduced him to this little ball of nerves; how silly was that?!

Except he knew it wasn't silly; emotions were a tricky thing.

He wanted to scream, but he didn't want to wake Juvia up. How much time had passed? It felt like a long time.

What if she wasn't even smitten with him? What if Juvia was just really nice? She WAS really nice, but she'd called him 'sama' so that had to mean something right?

He was so confused! No one had ever made him feel this confused him his entire life!

He heard the sheets rustling, and shortly after, Juvia was sleeping soundly on him, clutching onto his arm.

He sighted. As he felt himself relax and succumb to sleep, he realized he didn't care. Because right here, right now, it was her and him. No one else.

And for the second night in a row, he fell asleep with his arms around Juvia.

* * *

Yay chapter five! I almost didn't update today; it's been a rough day.

Holy crap guys I wrote ahead so that i could start updating more often and I think I completely messed up, so tomorrow I will not leave my room until I am 100% satisfied with the next few chapters! THIS I SWEAR! (lol el tigre reference ;P)

Anyways! Time for the usualllll: GUEST RESPONSE TIME! Only this time, we're addressing a nice guest who went by the name of 'John Cena'

Well first of all I have to finish the book I'm writing XD i always get really bad writer's block around the tenth chapter of something. But even if I were to become a famous writer, I can garantee you I'd never abandon again becuase its nice to be able to make my ships sail! I actually have a checklist on my phone for all the fics i have to write!

Between us guys in the future (near AND far) you can expect more Fairy tail, a Bethan fic and a Bade fic, a new and improved attempts at a Robin and Raven fic, and some youtuber fics ;))

So, do not worry, unfortunately for you people, who'll have to deal with all my trash ships; I'm here to stay for a looooooong time!

More to come next week! No later than Friday but maybe BEFORE ;D

Love, Baker


	6. Reality's a bitch

Natsu had resented Mr. Davensfort for waking them up so early after their late night, and had damn near killed him when he shoved them into a car towards the train station without breakfast. But then Natsu and Juvia noticed the reward waiting for them in the back seat and all was good. This was more than enough for food and Juvia's rent.

When they got to the train station, the first thing Natsu did was find the horrible worker on the train and demand she gave him more of that motion sickness stuff. Once the train was at a steady pace, he and Juvia made their way to the Dinner car, because damn it he was hungry.

They sat down in a far corner of the car in semi comfortable silence as they waited for their food.

Juvia looked out the window. They hadn't had much sleep, but even before being awoken rather rudely, Juvia had been having a hard time sleeping. She'd been having this dream, about a big party, and a big decision.*

She didn't know what it meant, but it made her very uneasy.

"Hey, Juvia?" She turned to Natsu. "This was fun. What do you say we go on another job soon?"

"Juvia would like that!" she smirked. "But Juvia does not think all trains have the motion sickness medicine Natsu likes so much."

He stuck his tongue out. The waitress brought them their food and they started to eat. Well, Natsu did, Juvia didn't have much of an appetite this morning.

"Hey, Natsu?"

"Yeawgh?" she laughed as he tried not to choke on his breakfast.

"Has Natsu ever had a dream that kept coming back? Like it was trying to tell you something?"

"What do you mean?"

Juvia turned to the window, looking at a cloudless, sunny sky. "Juvia keeps dreaming of a big decision. She doesn't know what she's deciding on though; but she has a feeling it's very important."

"Well," Natsu reached out for her hand. Juvia turned in surprise to him, feeling her cheeks flush slightly. He looked happy. His hair messy and his eyes soft. "Whatever it is, it's just a dream right? It's not real!"

Juvia relaxed taking a bite from her pancakes.

"By the way, Juvia-" Natsu doubled over the table in pain.

"N-Natsu? What's wrong?" Juvia rushed to his side, trying to get him to sit up right, but Natsu was clutching on to the table for dear life and wasn't budging. "NATSU WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU!?"

People started to gather around them, as Juvia desperately tried to pray Natsu off the table.

Eventually, the annoying train worker from before came over, laughing rather wildly ast Natsu's current state. "Oh my God what's this guy's problem?!"

Juvia gave her a glare. "Juvia doesn't know, but what she does know is you'll regret it if you don't fix it!"

The lady visibly trembled, gulping as she walked over to Natsu. "Oi! S-S-Sir! Please get up!" she leaned down to whisper in his ear. "Your girlfriend is scary~!" she rolled her y's.

"She's not my-" as fast as he'd sat up, Natsu doubled over, falling out of his chair. His face was all crunched up and he looked like he was going to hurl.

Juvia burst into giggles, clutching her stomach as she tried to stop. "It would seem the medicine wore off!" she said between fits. "Is it possible to get him more?"

The lady panicked, paling a little. "W-W-W-Well you see, Miss, that was the last one. The medicine doesn't come from Fiore, so we don't have an endless supply. It's a packet of four a trip, and I gave the last one away already." the lady bowed her head, ready for Juvia to scream at her.

"Oh okay," Juvia said as she walked over to pat Natsu on the back. "How come last time it lasted longer?"

"Last time you had been onboard three hours prior, and since you were taking a regular, overnight train, he must've fallen asleep while the medicine was still in effect. Which means he probably slept through the rest of the night without problem." the lady said, as she walked over to them. "Today you guys took the express train, which is a significantly shorter ride, but seeing as we're going three times faster, it might have something to do with that."

Juvia laughed. "Well, it doesn't matter." Juvia slung Natsu across her shoulders. "Sorry to disturb everyone! Natsu and Juvia will go back to their cabin now!" She flashed the room a smile as she walked with Natsu back.

She could hear him trying to speak without throwing up. He wasn't exactly doing a good job.

She turned to face him. She had to try really hard not to laugh. How could someone so strong be so easily defeated?

"Don't worry, Natsu; Juvia is almost to the cabin!"

As she finally reached their cabin, she slid the door open and basically threw him on the seat. She sat next to him, getting him to lay his head on her lap like the had done on their way to Davensport. She smiled down at him.

But then she stopped smiling.

' _It's not real...so why does it feel so real to Juvia?'_ she couldn't help but be worried. Dreams shouldn't be this worrisome.

Juvia looked out the window again. To her surprise, or maybe not, the sky was starting to cloud. She took a deep breath, trying to relax. She looked out the window once more; the sky was still cloudy, but significantly less.

She chuckled; not everything was about her.

She wondered if Gray was back yet. Mr. Davensfort had said there was always someone else; but Juvia wasn't sure she wanted someone else. She had longed for him for quite some time, and just recently he started feeling the same. Perhaps that was flawed thinking, but she was happy, damn it!

That month with Gray had been pretty great. They had gone to dinners around Magnolia every friday, he'd taken her to the park and froze the lake for them to skate on. He had even agree to read the incantation for the 19th moon ceremony-!

Juvia's train of thought broke.

The ceremony! She had been so caught up in work, and on Gray; she had forgotten about her birthday! There was so much to do! The ceremony, the incantations, the sacred flowers; and she had less than a month now!

She sighted, leaning her head back on the seat. ' _What's Juvia going to do now!?'_

Natsu reached out and slapped her face weakly, trying to get her attention. Juvia looked down in surprise, having forgotten he was here.

"Don't….Frown…" he gagged out. "Doesn't….Suit you…!"

She smiled a little. "Okay."

* * *

The station was a sigh of relieve for Natsu and Juvia both. For Natsu, because that meant the train would finally stop moving. For Juvia, because Natsu had puked and now their cabin smelled funny.

As they walked towards the exit of the train, Natsu was pondering very hard about how to tell Juvia he sorta liked her.

The old geezer back at Daven's Port told him not to loose her, but the thing is Natsu wasn't sure he had her in the first place. It was one thing thinking she liked him and having her smile at him; but it was a completely different thing being fully in love with him.

And to be honest, Natsu didn't know how he felt about Juvia, or whether he wanted to tell her anything at all. She was his friend; a good friend. A pretty, strong, kind, and amazing friend.

Natsu sighted. What was he doing!? ' _What am I thinking!? Juvia is my friend and that's final!'_

Of course, that way of thinking lasted very little.

When they finally exited the train, it was pouring outside. Natsu eyed Juvia, making sure the rain wasn't her; he couldn't tell.

She looked okay, but she seemed tired. They both ran through the uncovered platform towards the inside of the train station.

"Fresh air!" Juvia breathed in, sticking her tongue out at Natsu.

"God, I dislike you." he nudged her on the arm, relieved she seemed alright.

She nudged him back, winking at him. "Juvia dislikes you too!" Natsu felt his cheeks warm up.

They walked back to the guild, and it was honestly a very pleasant walk. Even though it had seemed like a sunny day, Juvia always had her umbrella with her; just in case. It was a little stuffy, but at least they wouldn't be soaking wet when they got back to the guild. Natsu kept looking at Juvia, trying to decided if what he had been pondering on was worth bringing up or not.

Coincidentally, Juvia kept looking at Natsu whenever he turned away from her. She had been doing a lot of thinking of her own: regarding Gray of course. Perhaps Natsu was still mad at Gray? Perhaps Gray was mad at her for yelling at him?

' _W-Wait! Why would he be mad at Juvia!? JUVIA IS MAD AT HIM!'_

Rain started to pour harder from the sky. Natsu noticed it, of course, but he didn't want to upset her further by asking. It seemed every time he opened his mouth he messed something up; according to Lucy and Happy anyways.

They walked the rest of the way to Fairy Tail in silence.

* * *

The guild was incredibly rowdy to see them. The job had been pretty easy, all things considered, but the reward had been a lot, specially with the bonus the old man had given them; obviously everyone wanted to hear about it.

"Juvia will go report to the Master, why don't you tell everyone about the ball, Natsu?" she smiled at him as she walked away.

He could tell something was still bugging her, but he decided not to press it. He started by talking about the train and how they did make motion sickness medicine, which nobody seemed as excited about as he was. As soon as he started to talk about the ball, suddenly everyone was very interested.

"Was the food super fancy?" "You didn't go dressed like THAT to the ball, right?" "What did Juvia wear?" "Were the bad guys super tough?" "Did you and Juvia share a room!?"

' _Okay that last one was uncalled for…'_ He thought.

Well, atleast he was telling a story everyone was interested in; except for Warren, who seemed to be off in the corner by himself. As the crowd around him dispersed, Natsu walked over to Warren. 'She's coming back.' he said; probably telepathically talking to someone. "Yo, Warren, what'cha up to?"

"N-NOTHING!" Warren got up and went to sit down by Macao and Wakaba at the bar.

Natsu frowned. He was about to call after him for answers but the door burst open, and in came Happy.

"NATSUUU~!" he screamed as he crashed into him.

"Oi, Happy, it's good to see you!" he glared at him. "Thanks for ditching me for Carla! You guys aren't even-!"

"Oh yes we are!" Happy screamed, flying over to Carla, who seemed like she wanted to sink into the ground.

"I-I thought I told you to wait and not tell!" she snapped.

"Sorry!" he said, trying to hug her. "I'm just so Happy!"

Carla sighted, a faint smile on her face. "You don't say…"

Natsu smiled. "Well, I guess you're forgiven this time!" he patted Harry on the head. "Where's Wendy and company?"

"Getting in place for-" Happy was saying, before Carla covered his mouth.

"Shhh! Happy you're too loud! She'll hear us!"

"Who'll hear you, Carla?" Juvia walked over with a smile on her face. She turned to Natsu. "Master was so pleased! We should do this again! How about Juvia and Natsu go on another mission right now!?" she gave him a huge, excited smile. "Happy can come too!"

The doors opened once more, and in came Erza and Wendy. Erza was carrying an abnormally large bouquet of white and blue roses**, which she then held out as Wendy used Sky Magic on them, making the petals scatter across the guild hall in a soft and elegant breeze.

Everyone was in awe as gasped filled the room. Happy and Carla grabbed Juvia by the arms and glided with her gently to the center of the hall.

Natsu wanted to scream for them to bring her back to his side; no matter how angel-like she looked surrounded by all the flower petals, he had a rotten feeling about this.

Juvia landed with a gasp, confused beyond belief. "What the…?"

"It's an apology."

Juvia's eyes widened, fresh tears threatening to roll down her face.

Gray walked through the doors, holding a small ice ornament. Inside, perfectly preserved, were two flowers; a Water Hawthorn and Water Hyacinth.

Juvia gasped. "The sacred flowers...Gray...How did you…?"

"Please!" He said. Juvia had ever heard him sound so desperate before. "I'm sorry...I never meant to hurt you...I don't know what you heard; but it's not true!"

Natsu and Juvia had similar reactions, but for the opposite reasons. Juvia was flooded with happiness. She knew it; Gray would never do anything to hurt her.

Natsu flooded with hate; something he had NEVER felt towards Gray before.

' _How dare you lie to her!? HOW DARE YOU LIE TO HER TO MY FACE!'_ he wanted to scream. He wanted to beat the crap out of Gray, and take Juvia far, far away; somewhere he'd never find her ever again.

He was moving; fully determined to shatter this fantasy to dust and particles.

But he stopped. He couldn't move. He couldn't say anything.

One look at her and he wouldn't.

She looked so alive; so happy. She threw herself into his arms, crying and apologizing. Gray held her as tight as she held him; kissing her gently as the guild clapped and cheered.

Could he really be one to break Juvia's heart?

She turned to him, with the biggest smile he's seen from her yet, making all the smiles she'd given him meaningless. "Natsu! Lets all together to celebrate!"

He smiled as best as he could back at her. "Okay!"

As the rest of the guild celebrated the cruel reality that was Juvia and Gray, no one paid attention to Natsu as his heart shattered.

He could feel the tears rolling down his face, but other than that, he felt so numb; so cold. ' _I guess it was more than just liking you...and just as the old man Davensfort predicted….I lost you…'_

Maybe what had happened on that mission hadn't been cheating? Maybe it was all in his head and he'd been the villain in this story all along. He looked around the happy guild once more.

That's when he noticed Lucy was nowhere to be seen.

* * *

*the dream from the very first chapter

** when I say huge, I mean like Erza might as well have been carrying something like this.

url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjM8LmupMzNAhVIpR4KHR1pC00QjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F% .com%2Fpin%2F286963807478446046%2F&bvm=bv.125801520, &psig=AFQjCNH3sDcOwup27VOp2IWEB9lP0BqsAg&ust=1467256984039543

UGHHH I'VE MADE LITTLE TO NO PROGRESS WITH THIS! I'm going on a mandatory school trip to North Carolina on Monday and I've been so busy trying to get everything I need for this dumb trip and all my school stuff.

Guys just in case I die on this trip to the mountains (I might off the mountains cause my outdoor skill is -1000) I'm leaving my passwords and the other two chapters I have of the story so far to my friend.

#prayforBakerandherlackofsurvivalskills.

See you all (hopefully :P) next week!

Dreading to spend the next few days without a proper bathroom and surrounded by my very annoying traveling companions, Baker.


	7. There's No 'Us' In 'Team'

Natsu hated everything; and he meant EVERYTHING. He sulked in the corner of the room as everyone in the guild clamoured over Gray and Juvia.

Natsu bit his cheek to keep from crying. ' _Why? Everything had been going so great...how can she just walk into his arms so willingly?!'_ he shot Gray's head a glare.

He had no proof Gray was guilty; he knew that. But Natsu also knew what he'd seen.

Across the room, even surrounded by warmth and love, Juvia wasn't as happy as she should be. She kept her eyes on Natsu; he didn't seem to be paying her any attention. ' _How can no one else notice he's suffering!?'_ she wanted to walk up to him, and ask him what was wrong; why he wasn't happy for her.

She frowned.

Why had he told her Gray cheated on her? He'd presented no proof with his claim, seeing as supposedly everyone was sleeping at the time. She didn't want to think Natsu would lie to her; but sitting here, with her hand in Gray's, she couldn't believe a single word Natsu has said to her that night.

As the crowd around them thinned, Juvia got up, telling Gray she'd be right back. She walked up to Natsu, "Hey, Natsu-!"

"Oi, Juvia!" he interrupted, smiling up at her. Juvia stopped cold. "When do you wanna go on a job again? Our last one was really fun!"

"That sounds like a plan!" Gray said, snapping Juvia back into reality when he wrapped his arm around her. "Should the usual gang go? Or just the three of us?" Juvia didn't see the smirk Gray gave Natsu.

"Well, what are we waiting for!? Let's go pick a job right now!" Juvia didn't see the sneer Natsu shot back at him.

As Natsu and Gray walked away picking at each other, Juvia stood frozen in place. She felt cold, and hurt, and she wasn't sure why. Her throat hurt, like she had been crying for days; which she had. ' _Natsu….gave Juvia a fake smile…'_

"Juvia!" two voices called simultaneously. One monotone; one filled with hidden torment.

Juvia turned, her heart accelerating.

Gray was smiling down at her. He looked so handsome, and radiant, and strong. He'd just declared his love for her in front of the entire guild; and yet he didn't come close to the guy standing next to him.

A guy who, she didn't realize at the time, she'd deeply hurt; like she had once been.

Except, he was still smiling at her, even if on the inside, he was crying on behalf of her choice. ' _If Juvia's happy,'_ Natsu thought. ' _I have to try and be happy for her…'_

* * *

The job they had taken was the best paying job within walking distance. Natsu and Juvia were already pretty secure for the month, so they didn't feel the need to chase after a huge reward; especially since no other train seemed to carry motion sickness medicine and he wasn't ready to vomit in front of the happy couple.

Natsu glared at them as they walked ahead. ' _Look at them, they're so happy! Yeah, well, pal, had you stayed away a little longer this wouldn't have happened.'_ he laughed to himself, knowing this wasn't true; if Gray really didn't cheat on Juvia, then it had been only a matter of time before this came to be.

Natsu wasn't the only one sulking though. Even though she was laughing and having a conversation with Gray about his last mission, Juvia's mind was miles away. ' _What was that back at the guild?! Juvia was drawn to Natsu and not Gray-sama…'_ She reached to lay a hand on her chest. ' _D-Did Natsu really do that to Juvia's heart?'_

"Juvia? Are you okay?" Gray asked, snapping Juvia out of her thoughts.

"Y-YES!" Juvia flushed, reaching for Natsu and Gray, holding onto both of their arms, taking both guys by surprise. "JUVIA IS JUST REALLY PUMPED FOR THIS MISSION! EVERYTHING WILL BE GREAT!"

Juvia regretted doing that almost as soon as she did it. She could practically feel the tension between Gray and Natsu. Like they were trying to kill each other with glares; they probably were.

"R-Right. Let's go, Juvia." Gray grabbed her arm and pulled her to the left.

"This way's faster though!" Natsu tugged towards the right.

"I say we're going this way!" Gray pulled harder.

"FUCKING WHY THOUGH!?" Natsu followed suit.

' _Oh boy…'_ Juvia broke into a nervous sweat, as she was pulled from side to side by her comrades. ' _Juvia might die from keeping them both at bay…'_

"H-How about sticking to the path?" Juvia said as she broke free.

Both men shot a glare at one another, then proceeded to try and beat each other to the destination, leaving Juvia behind.

' _This isn't happening!'_ Juvia screamed in her head as she raced after them. "Guys!? YOU FORGOT JUVIA!"

* * *

Their employer had been in a rotten mood when they got there, Juvia wanted to point out to all the people at his store. The man was pretty mean for someone so petite, and Juvia had zero doubts in her mind that he would smack Natsu and Gray if they kept shouting at each other behind her as he tried to explain what they were doing.

"OI! ARE YOU TWO GIRLIES DONE FIGHTIN' OVA THERE?!" He screamed at Gray and Natsu. "CAUSE IF YOU'RE NOT, I HAVE NO PROBLEM GIVIN' THE JOB SOLELY TO THE LIL' ONE OVA HERE!" he huffed at them. "At Least she's quiet and cute as a button!" he winked playfully at her.

Juvia gave a little laugh, about to thank him, when both Gray and Natsu shoved her behind them, glared at eachother, and then turned their attention to the man. "We're listening." Natsu said.

The shopkeeper blinked. "You three are somethin'. As I was sayin', these bandits keep stealin' ma lacrimas! They keep at it, I won't have any more to sell! Your job is to stop 'em and bag 'em for me! Otherwise, you get nothin', capiche?"

"Where should we start looking?" Gray asked.

"Near the forest is ma best guess. But I wantcha to stay here and keep guard at the back!" he pointed art Gray.

"Why me?" he asked as he elbowed Natsu in the ribs for smirking.

"Cause ya think pink hair ova here will scare em?" Gray laughed as Natsu glared at the shopkeeper. "Plus, I don't want the lady to stay behind; foh all I know, you two will beat the shit out of eachotha in the woods!"

All three of them wanted to complain, but they didn't; he was probably right.

"Here." he tossed Natsu and Juvia a little Lacrima with green smoke inside. "If one of ya smashes it, one of ya is bound to see it and go help ya. However, I want you," he pointed at Gray. "to stay put at all costs."

Juvia shoved her face in between Natsu and Gray "Thank you so much, Mr. We'll get the job done!"

"Okay, well, let's go, Juvia." Natsu headed for the door.

Juvia followed, but as she was about to catch up, Gray grabbed her hand and pulled her back.

"W-What is it, Gray-sama?" She flushed as he pulled her in for a kiss.

She kissed him back, setting her hands on his chest. Gray opened one of his yes, keeping it locked with Natsu, who looked positively murderous.

As the kiss brooke, Juvia looked up to smile at Gray, only Gray wasn't looking at her. "Hey, idiot!" He shouted at Natsu. "Keep MY girlfriend safe!"

Juvia walked towards Natsu before Gray had a chance to turn to her. "Juvia can take care of herself, Gray-sama!" she walked through the door Natsu held open for her. "And for the record; who kept who safe last time?" she walked off.

Gray stood stupefied in place. He'd never heard her be more than polite and lovely with him, so this took him by unpleasant surprise.

He glared at Natsu, who was covering his mouth in a mocking way. "What did you do to Juvia?"

Natsu smirked at Gray, his eyes glossed over with rage. "The question is; what did YOU do to Juvia that you're pretending you DIDN'T do?" Natsu followed after her.

Gray stood there, even more humiliated than before. He could tell the shopkeeper was laughing at him, and everyone in this store was judging him.

But what really did it for Gray was the wrinkly old man in the wheelchair snickering at him. "Oh, burn."

* * *

Juvia thought the weird air would disappear when she and Natsu were left alone, but surprisingly, it got worse. He had a stone cold face, looking straight ahead with a scowl.

Juvia tried for a conversation. "Sorry Gray-sama came along; Juvia really did want to go on a job with just Natsu.

She saw him relax for a second, before returning to his angry walking. "You could've told him to stay."

The comment stung a bit. "What was Juvia supposed to do? He's her boyfriend after all!"

"Yeah, well, that's also your fault." he didn't look at her when he said that, and for some reason, that pissed her off even more.

Juvia stopped walking, shocked into angry silence. "WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM!?" She screamed, reaching for him so he'd face her. She felt her heart break as he shoved her off and kept walking. "This isn't like Natsu!" when he just kept walking, Juvia had to bite her cheek so she wouldn't cry. "Fine! Don't tell Juvia what's bothering you! But then don't expect Juvia to listen when you feel like talking later!"

She stormed off, clouds thundering in the distance. She wanted to run away; maybe go back to Magnolia right now. At least she could lock herself in her house. She sighted at the thought.

Up to this point, she liked not living in Fairy Hills anymore, but now the thought of returning to an empty house rather than a crowded dorm made her feel even more lonely.

She kicked a rock out of her path. She tried to calm down, taking deep breaths and coming to a stop. "Juvia needs to calm down! Getting angry will do nothing." that didn't last. "UGH! WHEN JUVIA FINDS NATSU AGAIN SHE'S GOING TO SLAP HIM! HOW DARE HE MAKE HER FEEL WORRIED!" she let out a long sigh. "Doesn't he know how much Juvia cares about him?"

The sound of snapping branches chilled her blood. She doubted it was Natsu.

She checked her surroundings. She'd been careless, fuming aloud. Last thing she needed was another person causing her grief.

Instead she got four.

* * *

"I'M SUCH AN IDIOT!" Natsu smashed the bark of a tree. He looked down at his knuckles; they were all a little red and the one above his ring finger was split and bleeding kinda bad.

' _Fucking great.'_ he thought as he tried to shake the blood off.

Why did he say that?! He had been so set up on being supportive towards her and Gray because he wanted nothing more than to see each one of his friends happy. But he couldn't do it; she was more than his friend.

How could he be so blind to something that was happening to him?! HE had been the one falling for HER, not the other way around. He was the one fawning over her the entire mission, and yet every chance he got to tell her, he managed to lose.

But he still couldn't get her out of his head! The way she sung to him in the train car when he was feeling sick, how beautiful she had looked at the top of the stairway at Davensfort Manor, how they danced together when no one was watching; how she'd kissed his forehead goodnight.

"But that doesn't matter now, does it…?" he thought outloud. "She was just distracting herself from him, and I ended up believe is was more than her just playing around…"

He didn't want to believe that everything that had happened was one sided. She could've set him aside on the train and not care, like Lucy and Erza did, but she choose to help him.

She could've not danced with him, but she choose to waltz with him, and then wanted to take his hand as they were led to their room.

She didn't have to kiss him, but she had.

Natsu felt his cheeks get warm, and he smiled as he reached for his forehead. That mission was one of the best memories he had. He looked up at the sky; it was starting to rain. Definitely his fault for making her upset.

"Fuck, what came over me!?" He started to swing at the tree again, but then decided the tree was probably tired of his shit by now, and he stopped before making contact with it.

He'd been enraged when Gray implied he'd been the one to damaged Juvia, specially since Natsu was still suspicious of Gray cheating on her. But it wasn't just that; it was the fact that she was so clueless. He knew he shouldn't be mad; she paid more attention to him than almost everyone else in the guild, but he was pissed she couldn't pick up on the reason.

' _You're the reason, stupid.'_ he thought with a laugh. ' _But I know I have no right to be mad; we never dated, so whatever right?'_ Natsu looked up at the sky, the moon starting to shine over the woods. He felt himself smile, feeling new found determination starting to fill him up. ' _I haven't lost her yet! There's still a chance! Natsu Dragneel has never given up on anything, and he isn't gonna start now!'_

He turned around frantically, trying to pick up her scent.

He needed to find her and apologize, and then maybe see what he could do about her possibly backstabbing, possible lying, possibly cheating boyfriend.

He picked up her scent, and was about to start running towards her, when he picked up another four smells along with her.

A drop of water landed on his nose. Natsu looked up at the now pouring sky. Had that giant cloud been there before?

A scream rang out through the forrest, followed by the the ground shaking. What was left uncovered of moon was suddenly draped by green smoke that was raising above the trees; the smoke having most probably come from a small lacrima.

"JUVIA!" Natsu screamed as he ran towards the smoke.

' _Be okay….'_ he could feel tears starting to form in his eyes. ' _I'm begging you….PLEASE BE OKAY!'_

* * *

I'M BACK! :DDD

Alive and well thank God! The mountains where a bit of a challenge and they really sucked at times, but I have to say I did end up having a fun time ;)

I am sorry for not updating last friday, my plane got delayed, and then I got home late, and I really didn't feel like spellchecking and proofreading at one AM.

This week I also started school! I'm already dead inside :D but it is kinda nice to be back into a routine, and I did get the coolest physics teacher EVER!

Anyways you guys don't wanna hear about my life, so I'll end this author's note here and thank you all for being patient and for reading my fic!

Until next Friday when I WON'T forget to update!

Loads of love, Baker


	8. What Feels Right

Natu felt he wasn't running fast enough.

This was as fast as he could possibly go, but it still wasn't good enough for him. Another scream echoed through the forest, followed by a flash of light.

He sprinted through the night; the air electrifying, rain ice cold on his skin. No matter how fast he pushed everything out of his way, there was still so much blocking the path towards her.

' _Where are you!?'_ he tripped over a fallen tree, getting back up with unsettling speed. "JUVIA!"

He stopped running, afraid he'd miss a response. "JUVIA!" he screamed at the top of his lungs.

He waited. The rustle of the leaves mixed with the pounding rain made it almost impossible to hear it. But he heard it.

"NATSU!" another flash of light.

He turned, ripping the branches off trees that he crashed into. He crashed through a bush into a cleaning. Nothing he'd seen in prior jobs made him as angry as this.

Juvia was screaming in the arms of four strangers, one holding her from the arms, two holding her from the legs, one shoving a yellow ball in her mouth, forcing her to swallow it. Her body began steaming, burns starting to appear throughout her arms and legs as she wrenched in pain. In a blinding flash of light her body went limp and she was dropped to the floor.

Natsu could feel his blood boiling. Her screaming had angered him. Her body looking more damaged than he'd ever seen it enraged him. But what was the tipping point for him was the fact that her dress, one of her shoes, and her hat were missing.

"You tried to rape her…?" his voice was strained.

The four men surrounded him. They were all taller than him and considerably wider. The one with the scar across his face laughed. "We tried. She has a mean kick, though; we didn't get very far."

The fat one nodded. "Had to kill her off then; can't have her running around revealing who we are. Shame we wasted three Lighting lacrimas on her though. She's tough if she survived one."

Natsu trembled with anger. "You tried to rape her."

All of them laughed once again. The tallest one reached out to touch him. "Was she ya girlfriend, mate?" he faked sympathy. "What a shame, sorry for ya loss; she was a packet, with that soft voice and that huge rack, probably with a tight little-"

Natsu slammed his fist onto his jaw; the crack of it breaking resonating throughout the clearing.

"SHUT UP! SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

He couldn't hear anything. There was this ringing in his ears. He could feel himself hitting them with his magic, but he couldn't hear the impact or their screaming.

Every time his Fire Dragon Iron Fist made contact with one of them, he could feel the bones breaking under his fingers.

Something smashed on the back of his head, and he fell in pain. He looked around him. Two were standing, two were down but not bleeding too badly; lucky for the skinny one and the one with the scar.

Natsu charged at the fat one with a Fire Dragon Wing Attack. He landed a perfect blow, and the guy dropped like a stone.

He turned to the tall one, hatred radiating from him.

The man laughed, "Oh, come on, dog; it's a big, bad world!" he smirked at Natsu, a twisted kinda stare in his eyes. "I just had to be the one to break her in. So pure, she was, ya know? Her curvy frame restricted in that dress of hers; her little voice going on and on about how crazy you drive her." He mocked her voice. " **When Juvia finds Natsu again, she's going to slap him! How dare he make her worry! Doesn't he know how much Juvia cares about him! Juvia loves him!"** he rolled the 'O's in 'love', laughing at Natsu's heartbroken eyes. "Such a shame I didn't get to fuck her..." he turned to her limp body with a hungry gaze. "...while she was still alive; I like it when they scream. Though it's more enjoyable when they don't fight back."

Natsu wasn't sure what happened next. All he knew was that he was on top of this guy, beating the living shit out of him without magic; just hatred.

Someone laid a hand on his shoulder, and he immediately went to sock him in the face.

Gray managed to catch his fist. "HEY WHAT THE F-!" He didn't finish his sentence. He stood there, holding Natsu's fist, watching him start to break down and cry. Gray kneeled down next to him. "H-Hey, it's okay; you're okay! You did what you had too."

As Natsu tried to calm down, holding onto Gray for dear life, Gray scanned the clearing. The four goons, presumably the ones they'd been hired to catch, were out cold. The one Natsu had been beating up was bloody and already bruised, but thankfully still breathing; he didn't need Natsu killing anyone on this job.

He turned to face his comrade. "Are you okay?" Natsu nodded, as small frown on his face as he wiped his eyes with his hand. It reminded him of when they were little and they played too roughly. "What were you thinking? You could've killed him!"

Natsu was about to start talking, when his eyes focused on something behind Gray, and he rushed over to it. Gray turned around to follow him.

Natsu was kneeling next to Juvia, but he seemed too afraid to touch her. Gray's eyes widened as he processed how badly injured she was. He dropped to his knees, trying to get her on his lap, but she was boiling up quite literally. "She's barely breathing. We have to get her to a doctor now! Natsu, help me!"

Natus couldn't move. He watched her with tears in his eyes. She was bruised and steaming still; her hair was sticking to her pale face, and her breathing was hollow.

"NATSU!" Gray screamed at him. "DO YOU WANT HER TO DIE?!"

As carefully as he could, Natsu picked up her up, cradling her close to his chest. He was always saying how cold she felt, but he'd give anything for her to cool down now. "What do we do about the thiefs? W-Where do I even take her!? Gray, I don't want her to die!" He choked back a sob.

Gray was shocked. It took him a while to respond. With Lucy, Erza, and Wendy, Natsu had never gotten like this, but Natsu was standing in shambles with his girlfriend in his arms. Gray's stomach dropped. ' _Natsu...I didn't know you cared so much…'._ Gray tried to focus at the task in hand. "I'll handle them, you just run to town and I'll find you!" he pointed at the path he'd taken to get here.

Natsu nodded, running as fast and as gently as he could. He could feel his heart beating in his ears, and the rain felt like bullets on his skin. His throat was in a knot. This frail, limp, half dressed body in his arms was Juvia, who seemed to get new burns on her skin by the second. This was the girl known for her indestructible body of water; her greatest asset in a battle, and it was being destroyed from the inside.

He clutched her tighter to him. ' _Please be okay, please be okay, fuck, Juvia, please be okay!'_

He could feel her breath against his chest, and he began to run faster, afraid he'd stop feeling it if he didn't hurry.

* * *

He sat in silence as the nurse patched up his hand. The worst injury he'd gotten from this encounter had funny enough been the one he gave himself when he punched the tree.

The nurse laid her hand on his shoulder. "Would it make you feel better if you saw her?" he looked up at the nurse, his eyes pleading. She gave him a little smile, "I'll go ask if is possible."

She left, but before she did, she held the door open for Gray to come in. He walked over to Natsu and sat next to him. "What did they say?"

Natsu shrugged, feeling drained with worry. "When I brought her in, they asked me what happened to her and I had no answer. They asked me how long she's been like this, and I didn't know. All I could do was scream that she needed help." his voice was raspy. "Finally something clicked in their head when I mentioned she was a water mage, and they took her away from me." Natsu's head dropped into his hands and he started shaking. "I couldn't protect her...Fuck, I'm sorry."

Gray wasn't much for moments like this, but he wrapped his arm around Natsu and gave him a squeeze. "It's not your fault. You had a job, and separating was the smart thing to do. How were we supposed to know this would happen?"

Natsu looked at him, his eyes red and puffy. "How are you so calm? That's YOUR girlfriend that's dying!"

Gray gave him a small laugh. Natsu pouted at him. "I'm sorry, it's just I've never heard you give up like this. It's a pretty weird thing to witness." Gray nudged him in the ribs. "This is Juvia were talking about, Natsu; I'm sure she'll be fine."

Natsu gave him a half smile. "Yeah, probably. She IS pretty persistent." He gave him a full smile this time. "Remember that time she followed us to the Tower of Heaven because she wanted to join the guild to be with you?"

Gray gave a mocking sigh. "God, she used to be so weird! It's funny though, while a lot of things she did annoyed me, they never failed to make me feel appreciated, you know?"

Natsu gave a hearty laugh. "I get you; she babied me on the train ride to our last job. It was nice." Gray watched as Natsu's face soften; muscles relaxing and cheeks flushing slightly. "She played with my hair, and sang for me...it made feel cared for. I hadn't felt like that since Igneel disappeared." Natsu turned to Gray with a sincere smile. "You're so lucky you have someone like her in your life, Gray."

Gray tried to smile, not feeling so great all of a sudden. "Yeah….Sorry you had to sit through her singing," he joked nervously. "Her singing voice isn't the best, is it?"

Natsu blinked, feeling embarrassed. "Oh really? I didn't even realize." he smiled at the ground. "I thought she sounded pretty great. She would've lulled me to sleep had she kept singing. It made me feel all warm and happy inside, to be honest."

Gray could feel the guilt start to settle in his stomach. "Natsu?"

"Yeah?"

' _Do you love her?'_ "Where is she?"

Natsu looked around, "I'm not sure. The nurse said she'd go ask if I can see her." He turned to Gray, a small smile in his face. "It should be you that goes to see her, though."

Gray stared in surprise at his friend. He'd become so mature in a matter of a week. Since they'd come back from their last mission together, he seemed to be the adult. It felt weird. "D-Don't you wanna see her?"

Natsu gave him a sad laugh. "Well, duh! But...something tells me she'd be happier if the first face she saw when she woke up was yours."

They settled into silence, neither one sure of how to keep the conversation going after that.

Natsu stared at the floor. He couldn't bring himself to ask about what he'd seen at the bathhouse; not now with Juvia somewhere in this hospital. He thought back to the declaration of love he'd seen just a few hours prior to this. He laughed.

"What's so funny?" Gray asked, not looking at him.

"Nothing, I just never pegged you for the romantic type!" Natsu tried to get the image of Gray leaving the girls bath house out of his head. "Where did you even get a bouquet of roses that big?"

Gray laughed with him. "I just wanted it to be obvious that I was sorry."

"But you did nothing wrong, right?"

Both of them wanted to believe it; neither was sure if they could.

"Natsu…do you really not want to see Juvia?"

Natsu locked his eyes with Gray. "You're lucky, Gray. You have someone so...willing to be there for you! I saw how happy she was when you walked in with those flowers; her eyes became blue galaxies!" he looked at the floor again. "I thought I'd found someone like that, but she said she didn't feel the same. It stung for a while, but I'd never do anything to lose her or push her out of my life." he looked back at him, with a sincere smile. "Juvia's like that; she'd do anything to keep you happy and safe. She's made that pretty clear since she joined. You're so lucky you have someone like her to love you." h smiled at the ground. "It's not that I don't want to see her; I'd just want someone who loved me to always be by my side...and I think she does too."

Even if Natsu thought of his words as touching and reassuring, for Gray they had the opposite effect. He had a knot in his stomach and his throat burned.

' _He doesn't know...if he did he wouldn't be saying these things to me…'_ "I know, right? Juvia is certainly someone I don't want out of the picture."

He meant that; it was just more complicated than that.

A skinny man in a red suit came in. "Dragneel and Fullbuster?" they nodded. "My father wants you to come back to the store to collect the reward, and to personally thank you for job well done."

Natsu scratched the back of his head. "Oh, but we can't do that."

The guy in the red suit seemed to get ticked. "Why not?"

"One of ut comrades got into a pretty bad situation during the job; we're waiting to see her!"

The guy clicked his tongue. "While I understand, my father is not a very patient man; at least one of you should come!"

Natsu sighted. "Fine fine! I guess I'll go." Natsu saluted Gray as he flung himself off the hospital bed. "Hold the fort down for me; and tell Juvia I say hi!"

He was almost out the door. He could've let Natsu go. He could've stayed, and then everything would slowly return to how it used to be. That's what he wanted, right?

"Nah, I'll go. I was supposed to stay and guard the store anyways, so I might as well go back and apologize for leaving my post." Gray got up and pushed Natsu back into the room. "Say hi yourself!"

"But, Juvia will be disa-"

"Natsu." Gray turned to him with a smile. "Let me finish the damn job; unlike you and her, I'm very poor at the moment."

Natsu smiled at him, grateful. "Hurry back."

Gray followed the guy in the red suit to the magic shop. He knew he was making the wrong choice, but this felt better; it felt right.

* * *

Ok, first off; I'm sorry. School has been insane for being only the first few weeks, and to make matters worse, I have a knee injury and it has been taking up all of my time.

Here is this week's chapter! I'm awful cause I don't even know if I'll be able to upload on Friday cause I'm so behind in my writing schedule. Ugh. I'll try to though.

Thanks for baring with me 3

~ Baker


	9. Two Hearts For The Same Girl

When the nurse came back, Natsu practically bounced off the bed. She smiled at him and asked him to follow her.

He had been pretty worried they'd told him he couldn't see her, since the nurse took a long time to come back. He followed her down a dark corridor, which seemed to get colder the as they walked on.

She took a few turns, Natsu suddenly understanding why she's taken such a long time.

She came to a stop in front of double door labeled 'Water Room'. "Before you go in, you should be ready for what you see."

Natsu gulped. "Jeez, lady, is she missing an arm or something, get on with it!"

She pushed the door opened for Natsu to head in, and he had to stop to fully process what was going on.

There was two other doctors in there, one on what seemed to be a control panel, and the other one jotting down notes on his clipboard. The room was pretty well lit but gave off a bluish color. Juvia seemed to be unconscious inside a tank of water, most of her arms, legs, and torso fusing with into liquid. Her hair floated around her like a halo.

Natsu would've kept looking at her, because she looked incredibly serene and lovely, but she no longer had any clothes on. He averted his gaze, a small blush on his face. "I-Is she okay?"

The doctor with the clipboard answered him. "Yes, she's just resting by this point, but we'd rather wait till her body fully forms again before taking her out." he walked over to shake Natsu's hand. "You did good in bringing her here; not many facilities have to deal with injured Water Mages."

Natsu nodded not following along. "As long as she's okay; thanks doc!"

"Please, call me Ruiz; it was unfortunate this is how I got to see her again."

"Again?" Natsu sat down on the bed, eyeing Juvia, then remembering she was nude.

"Yeah, if my memory doesn't fail me, Miss Lockser was the first Water Mage we ever treated."

"Really?" Natsu asked. "How long ago was this?"

Dr. Ruiz scratched his beard. "Thats a good question; it's been a while for sure, but I wouldn't be able to know how long." he walked over to the other doctor by the controls. "Hey Urtaz, when was the first time we treated Juvia?"

The guy named Curtis pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, taking the key off the capsule's control panel. "I'd say roughly fourteen years?"

"That's right!" Dr. Ruiz walked towards the door, Urtaza following close behind. "She'd been running around the woods when she came in with a burned arm." he threw Juvia a funny look. "Seems getting burned is a bad habit of hers…" he turned to Natsu, tossing him her chart. "Kid stay here and keep an eye on your girl, okay? She should be waking up any minute now."

"She's not my-whatever." Natsu sighted. "How'd she get burned? The first time I mean."

"Beats me. If I remember correctly she'd been abandoned there; the shock would explain all the crazy talk about signing dragons."

Natsu laid in one of the beds for a while. He played what the doctor had said over and over in his head.

Singing dragons.

What the fuck is that supposed to mean?

* * *

When Juvia came around, she had a throbbing pain splitting her head in half. She found it a lot harder to breath.

She opened her eyes, the light above her making her tear up. It took her a while to realize that she floating in water, and that half of her body was still in liquid form. She didn't have enough energy to retain her solid body.

"H-Hello?" she called out, turning to look around the room, her hair floated behind her.

"Hey!" Natsu emerged from behind a curtain. "You're awake! That's good!"

She smiled at him. "Natsu! Juvia's glad to see you!" she tried once more to regain control of her body, failing again. "What happened?"

Natsu's face darkened. "The bastards that were stealing the Lacrimas got a hold of you. According to your chart, you ingested three lightning lacrimas that started to evaporate your body from the inside; not to mention they severely injured your organs and broke one of your ribs."

"O-Oh...Juvia doesn't quite recall; it's all a bit fuzzy…W-Where are Juvia's clothes?" Natsu didn't answer. "Were they also burned?" He didn't look at her for a while. "Natsu?!" her voice trembled, memories slowly becoming clearer. "What happened to Juvia?!"

Before she could react, Natsu removed his scarf and his vest, kicking off his shoes as he climbed to the top of the Capsule, throwing himself inside. He pulled her close by her shoulders, his hands sinking into her half-liquid-half-solid body.

She could hear him sobbing in her ear, but his diction wasn't as good as hers under the water. She felt him shake and sob, and the little she understood wasn't pleasant to hear. 'They were all over you. They were going to hurt you.'

Juvia wrapped her arms around his waist, now very much aware of what he was trying to say. She wanted to cry, she wanted to feel scared. But she didn't. Right here, in his warm, shaking embrace, she felt okay.

He pulled them towards the top of the capsule, taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry. Im sorry, im sorry, im sorry. I'm sorry I was a dick, and I'm sorry I let you run off, and I'm sorry that I'm not happy for you. I know I should be, because, fuck, you mean so much to me, and I want you to be happy, but I-" Juvia pressed a hand to his face.

He stopped mid sentences, taking in short breaths to calm down. He leaned his face into her hand, his tears rolling onto her palm. "Fuck…" he said.

Juvia pressed her forehead to his. "Juvia's not mad." her voice was soft, but she was trying not to cry. "Juvia's not mad at Natsu for what he said, or what he did. She doesn't expect him to be okay with it either. Natsu told Juvia what he knew, and Juvia still believes him."

He opened his eyes, staring at the perfectly dry girl in front of him. "You believe me?"

She nodded. "Every word."

"So-So why are you-"

"Juvia believes him too." she opened her eyes, and Natsu forgot everything he knew. The only thing he could remember was how mad this girl made him feel. He was falling for her, just by looking into her eyes; he could feel it. He knew he was infatuated with everything about her.

"Why?" he asked, watching a soft smile grow from the corners of her lips.

"Because Juvia loves him. And he loves her. And Juvia know's what's it like to feel your heartbeat for someone. If Gray-sama really loves another girl, Juvia can cry and call her a rival all she wants. But that won't stop the fact that she won't change anything." She stared at Natsu, who's eyes were focused on her. She felt a little shy.

She looked down, suddenly remembering that she wasn't wearing any clothes. She pushed away from him. "Um, Natsu, do you think you could fetch Juvia some clothes or something?"

He, too, seemed to remember she was nude, and turned around. "Fuck! Yeah, no, sorry! I'll jUST-" he fell from the capsule as he tried to climb out, his pants dripping wet. "I'll go fetch us clothes!" He got up and left.

Juvia leaned her head on the edge, a warm smile on her face.

* * *

The hospital had telepathic communication lacrimas, from which Natsu called Gray and asked him to bring clothes for Juvia. Natsu just dryed his pants as best as he could.

"Here you go!" Gray dropped the clothes in Natsu's arms.

"Why are you giving them to me, you're her boyfriend!"

Gray averted his eyes. "Cause...didn't you say you would bring them to her?"

"Gray what's going on? First you don't wanna see her, now this? She works in fairy tail, you know; you'll bump into her sooner or later!"

"I know that!" he huffed. "I just….I don't think she wants to see me…"

Natsu laughed. "Of course she does! Come on, you fucking wimp."

Gray trailed behind Natsu as he walked down the hall.

' _It's just Juvia. Juvia, who's my girlfriend! Who loves me! So then why and i so afraid to just face her and talk to her like a decent human being?!"_

When they walked into the room, Dr. Ruiz was talking to Juvia, who was wrapped in a towel as Dr. Urtaz bandaged her up.

She turned at the sound of the door, and smiled sweetly as her comrades. Gray felt the knot in his stomach tighten.

"Ah, gentleman! I was just telling Juvia here that she needed rest for a while; I'm certain you'll make sure that happens?"

"Juvia's fine! She can heal herself you know?" she laughed.

"Remember last time you got burned? It took is weeks to figure out how to fix you!" Dr. Urtaz finished with her leg.

"That was because Juvia was very small! She didn't know she could heal herself!" she huffed.

"Is...Is this about the last time you were here?" Natsu asked. He seemed nervous.

"Yeah, it was a long time ago, but Urtaz and Ruiz still look the same!" they smiled at her. "Juvia was left in the forest by her mom. She told Juvia to find her a white flower, but when Juvia came back, her mom was gone. While she was looking for her, Juvia heard someone singing, so she followed the voice. After what we saw on Tenrou Island, Juvia is certain what she saw back then was a dragon. Juvia tried to get closer to him, but she startled him and he burned her. He kept telling Juvia to come back, but she was too afraid." she turned to smile at the two doctors. "That's when Juvia stumbled into town and Urtaz and Ruiz took care of her!"

"And of course, next time we see you it's when you're dying." Dr. Urtaz laughed. "We'll leave you kids to your shenanigans. Plus, you need to get dressed."

They walked out. Natsu followed suit.

"I need some air...and some grub." he waived at them as he left. "I'll bring some back for you guys."

' _No, no; were are you going!?'_ Gray felted his heart pick up. What was he supposed to do; what was he supposed to say? 'Hey, sorry i went to get paid instead of waiting for my girlfriend to wake up maybe cause you were sorta dying'.

No he couldn't say that!

"Gray-sama?"

"I DIDN'T MEAN TO!" he blurted out.

She seemed a little taken back by his outburst, but then simply laughed it off. "Juvia just wanted your help; she can't exactly dress herself at the moment."

"R-Right."

He walked over to her, the clothes he was carrying suddenly more heavy than he remembered. He didn't know why he was so nervous; it's not like they hadn't done anything in that month of dating, and the little time before they became official.

But after everything that'd happened; he felt he didn't deserve to see anything.

He handed her the panties he'd brought her; he refused to help her put those on. She didn't complain. She also required no help getting into the shorts he'd gotten her.

She did, however, ask for help with her bra and her t-shirt, since she couldn't bend one of her arms,and she didn't want to risk becoming malleable and then not being able to solidify again; it'd taken some effort.

She had a lot of bandages throughout her legs, one of her arms was fully bandaged, the other one just around the wrist. Her entire torso was wrapped and she had a giant band-aid on her cheek. He felt like an ass.

Why didn't he run to her when he saw the flare. He just stayed put. He didn't do anything. It wasn't until he saw Natsu's wildfire that he decided to check it out. What type of asshole does that?

He tied her shoes for her.

"Thank you." she said.

"For what?" he said.

"Tying Juvia's shoes?" she snorted.

"Right."

"And, for caring so much."

He wanted to cry. He wanted to tell her the truth.

But he wasn't ready to let go of her yet. "Of course, I care about you. I love you."

He did. He loved everything about her. She'd always been there; as a shoulder to cry on, and a person to cheer him on, as a person he could depend on, as a person who believed in him.

He needed her. He didn't want her to disappear from his life.

She smiled softly. "Love you too."

* * *

Natsu felt stupid.

He was walking around trying to find a decent restaurant, but that's not why he felt stupid.

He'd meant to give them their space; he really had. But he couldn't. He didn't want to.

So he'd stood there, behind a closed door, as two lovers told each other how much they cared, and then they probably kissed right after he'd walked away.

He didn't know why he clung onto the hope that she'd fall for him.

He'd always liked Juvia.

At first, he liked the idea of fighting her, for having kidnapped Lucy. Then he liked her as an ally; anyone in his guild was his friend. He liked how much she annoyed Gray; then he liked how happy she seemed to make him. He liked to see them smiling at eacthoer in the guild.

So why was he so bitter now?!

He had no proof Gray had done wrong; just a twisted feeling in his gut.

Fuck, he was hungry.

He couldn't focus on what he wanted to eat though.

His thoughts kept going back to her. To her smile, to her eyes, to her stomach, to her singing.

He stopped in the middle of the sidewalk.

He didn't question how she knew Igneel's lullaby when she'd first sung it to him. It felt like that had been months away. He hadn't questioned it because he'd been too concentrated on making her feel warm, and keeping the little smile she had on her face.

He didn't remember ever meeting her before Phantom lord. But he did remember the day Igneel sung him thats song; he'd been sick. It'd been raining for a while, and Igneel had told him to stay away because it wasn't normal rain. That's when he'd started to sing, but halfway through the song, he paused and spewed fire towards the trees.

He thought about it harder, recalling a faint scream and the fleeting rain; like it been chasing the person who'd suffer Igneels carelessness.

He remembered Igneels shouting after whatever it was to come back, but he hadn't thought much of it at the time.

He felt a little smile cross his face.

' _Gray may be the first Fairy she ever fought, but I'm the Fairy she met first!'_

He looked up, finding himself in front of a restaurant that selled meat inside a hard tortilla.

* * *

Holly crap I am the worst.

I hate it when authors in this site go MAI without noticed and i did that to y'all and I am deeply sorry.

School had been crazy cause I'm in so many clubs plus all the hw and I babysit every now and then I Often can't find the time to chill and let the writing flow.

I will try my hardest to update before the end of October, and since a break is coming up in November you might either get two more chapters or a really long one XD.

Love and apologies, Baker.


	10. She Didn't Deny It

When Natsu got back, he'd forgotten some of the take out was for his friends, and had eaten two more tacos on the way back.

Juvia didn't mind though, she was happy to have something to eat; being in liquid form emptied her stomach beyond believe.

Gray on the other hand though, almost started a fight right there in the water room. It took a lot of yelling on Juvia's part to get them to stop. Even then, they only stopped when she winced as she tried to stand only to fall down.

Natsu and Gray helped her back onto the bed, repeatedly asking if she was okay.

She nodded; she had a lot of burns and broken rib that were still healing. She had a feeling Wendy could get her back on her feet, but you never knew with Water Mages according to Dr. Ruiz.

"You know you're not supposed to be moving yet." Gray said. "Dr. Ustaz said you were supposed to stay in the capsule for a whole day but you wouldn't listen."

"Juvia's fine!" she laughed as Natsu tried to push her into bed. "She's invincible!" she tried to flex her arms, but winced when she pulled at the bandages on her chest.

"You are not invincible; I totally kicked your ass when we first met!" Gray laughed.

"Juvia was too busy trying to conquer your heart to try and kill you!"

Natsu watched as they talked amongst themselves. He didn't want to be here. He wanted to take Juvia home, and then maybe go to his own house and think for a while. He didn't even feel like fighting Gray anymore.

He eyed Juvia. She really did seem fine; she was laughing at something Gray had said as she eat her share of the tacos. It was weird to see her so underdressed. He was used to hats and long dresses, not white t-shirts and black shorts. She didn't even have her thigh high shoes since they couldn't find them.

She turned to face him, and he blushed at the sudden eye contact. "All good?"

He smiled nervously. "Never better."

* * *

In the end, even though both Juvia and Natsu were against it, they ended up getting a ride back to Magnolia. The city was in a bit of a shock due to the bandit situation, so no rental place would give them a ride for a reasonable price.

Lureng, one of the nurses in charge of medication exchanges with Magnolia Hospital was headed there anyways so he offered to give them a ride. He was even kind enough to apply healer magic on Natsu.

While he was still dizzy, the spell kept his sickness at light headache level rather than producing chunks level. Lureng and Natsu rode in the front while Gray and Juvia choose to ride in the back of the pickup truck. Natsu got rather fumed when he saw them sprawled out in the back with blankets and pillows, but that was mostly because that looked more fun than sitting in the front with a stranger eager to converse when he felt like crap.

And also because he didn't like the way he could hear them laughing even though he was inside. He couldn't make out the conversation, and he knew that turning around to look at them through the tiny window wouldn't aid him in his eavesdropping, but he couldn't help it.

She could've died last night. And even worse, she was now happily snuggling with Gray in the back of a pickup truck with perfect view of the upcoming sunset.

He huffed, then tuned back into whatever Lureng was saying about emotional and mental health being equal to physical health, and given his current self deprecating outlook on his emotions, Natsu couldn't agree more.

* * *

It wasn't that Juvia wasn't having a good time with Gray, it just wasn't the same anymore. Something felt off.

It wasn't the fact that she was sore all over or the fact that she felt naked in her attire. Her heart just didn't beat for Gray like it used to.

This was all she could have hope for two months ago; a beautiful sunset, Gray's arms around her as she lays against him. Why wasn't she happy?!

She WAS happy; but not like before. There was no butterflies, no nervous laughs, no sense of being head over heels drunk in love like before.

"Are you okay?" Gray asked as he nuzzled her head. He didn't think it necessary to tell her her hair smelled like salt water.

"Juvia doesn't know…" She sat up so she was next to him, not on him. "Does Gray feel it too?"

"It?" he asked, concerned not very well hidden on his face.

"Juvia doesn't know how to explain...Juvia's heart doesn't feel like it's going to beat out of her chest anymore...does that make sense?"

Gray kept his eyes on the horizon. "So...what are you saying?"

"Maybe...no, nevermind, Juvia's probably just tired."

She leaned her head on his shoulder, hoping to feel her heart accelerate or her face heat up or any sign of the way she used to feel about him. She felt nothing.

He leaned on her head. "I know what you mean…"

"You do?"

"Yeah...I feel it too sometimes, like a lapse in judgement and feeling...Is that what you mean?"

"I...I don't know…" the lack of her third person speech pattern threw them both off.

"Juvia," he said, trying to get her to look at him. "Do you not feel the same way about me anymore…Is that what you mean?"

"I...I don't know, maybe?" She could feel herself tearing up. "It's not like Juvia doesn't love Gray, she does! She does so much, but something just doesn't feel...right! This isn't like a month ago when Juvia was constantly fighting butterflies in her stomach and wiping sweat off her clammy palms! This NOW-feels...different...right?"

He wiped off a tear from her cheek. "Right...I dont get flustered or annoyed around you anymore."

They both laughed. It wasn't a hearty laugh like before; but it was a start.

"Listen, Juvia, feelings for things and places and people change. And...that's okay. We don't need to be like we were before. Let's just be us now, okay? And we'll see where we'll end up."

She smiled at him and returned her head to his shoulder. "Thank you."

"You're hands used to be really fucking clammy." He said.

"JUVIA KNOWS AND SHE'S SORRY OKAY!" she laughed.

* * *

Natsu turned to try and catch their conversation for the third time in the last thirty minutes.

He knew he was being a little ridiculous and over protective, but goddamnit he wanted that pretty little head on his fucking shoulder and not anywhere near Gray.

He huffed and sank back in his seat. He didn't even have a nice view of the sunset where he was sat.

"You know if you like her you can just tell her. Worse comes to worse she rejects you and sooner or later you get over it." Lureng said, clearly insulted Natsu wasn't paying much attention to his medical trivia.

"WHAT-No I don't-what." Natsu said smoothly.

"Bruh." Lureng chuckled. "You couldn't be more obvious unless you wore a sign on your neck that said 'I'm In Love With Juvia Lockser' around your neck."

"That bad, huh?" Natsu felt the heat rise up to his cheeks. "How do I know if I love her though?"

"Well the fact that you haven't stopped looking at her even though she's not even in the car is one way to tell." Natsu slapped him in the arm. "But a solid way to tell is-I dont know."

"What do you mean you don't know?" Natsu was baffled. "BUt you're the nurse, aren't you an expert in all matters of the heart?"

"Yeah, when it's on the operation table-"

"Gross."

"-But with love one can't simply tell, man." Lureng said. "Here, let me tell you a story; Once upon a time, 20 year-old me got in cahoots with a classmate of mine. I couldn't tell what we were; at school we were strangers, with friends we hated each other. But alone; alone we were lovers. My eyes were infatuated with her, and she was over every inch of me. But I don't think we loved each other."

"What!?" Natsu didn't know what to say. "How do you do what I think you did and not love them?"

"Cause we're young! Cause we say and do and don't think." he turned to Natsu with an honest look. "And we blow shit sometimes. She loved me at one point, and by the time I loved her back I lost her because I didn't say anything. I didn't tell her when I started to feel different and I didn't ask her to wait; so she moved on and I lost her."

"Shit…"

"Yeah." Lureng said, a smirk on his face. "Listen, Natsu, do me a favor. Be honest with her."

"I can't…" Natsu leaned out the window. "I don't want this thing we have to change. I don't wanna fuck up a perfectly good friendship or her relationship."

"That's what I said to myself as I watched myself loose her. Natsu, I'm not saying I'm not happily married now, but I'm never gonna forget how I fell for her or how great it was to do so." He laughed as he flipped the top mirror closed (which held a picture of his wife and two baby girls). "All I'm saying is, you might resent the 'what if' that you missed. What's the worse thing that can happen if you tell her?"

Natsu peeked one last time, looking at their silhouettes as they stared at the setting sun.

"I don't know, man." Natsu breathed in, determined to have that actually be the last time he looked back. "But I'll make sure to find out."

The rest of the ride was spent listening to the radio, because as much as he liked Lureng, he wasn't sure he wanted to hear more about how he got laid multiple times by his best friend when he was twenty; Natsu was starting to feel bad about the fact that he hadn't yet, not even once.

* * *

Needless to say, when they got to Magnolia it the sun was in its remaining moments before fully disappearing.

While Gray thought it was in their best interest to drop Juvia off at her house, it was opposite to the hospital, and both Natsu and Juvia agreed Lureng had done enough for them today.

With a quick fare well on both parties, Lureng dropped them off in a Cafe near Gray's house, which had been the closest one to the hospital.

Gray turned to Juvia, "Are you sure you're good to walk home?"

She scoffed. "Please, Juvia's never been better. In fact, why doesnt Gray go home?"

"What?" Both Gray and Natsu blurted out.

"Yeah, Gray's house is just down the street, so why walk nine blocks there and back? Beside's Juvia's fine!" She smiled at Gray and gave him a hug. "Juvia will see you tomorrow at the guild right?"

"Y-Yeah, I guess…" He hugged her back and gave her and tired smile. He started to walk off but turned to Natsu and stuck his tongue out. "Get her home safe for me nerd. 'Night!"

"HEY!" Natsu stopped himself. Before he walked off, Natsu could've sworn he saw Gray wink at him, which made his face flame up. "Fine." He turned to Juvia, clearing his throat. "Ready to go?"

"Hmmm." Juvia brought her finger to her lips as she eyed the cafe in front of her, unknowingly making Natsu sweat more than he already was. "Juvia's kinda hungry, so how about we get some food?"

He nodded, unsure of what to say to her anymore. His head kept going back to what Lureng said; not about all the sleeping around but the fact that he has someone he loved that close to him and he still managed to lose them. That was scary.

He was gonna tell her. If not for him then for her, because she deserved to know.

They walked into the cafe together and walked stratig to the counter. It was still pretty early but the cafe was vacant but for a few women and a businessman in the corner.

"Hi, what can I get for you?" The boy at the register asked.

"Hello," Juvia gave them a smile, "Can Juvia have a cheese and ham empanada and a spinach one too please, and a soda as well." she turned to Natsu

"Uh, I want the same, but can I also get beef empanada, a chicken empanada, a pork empanada, and a potato empanada?" Natsu chuckled at the boy behind the counter, who was left jaw dropped shocked at how much Natsu had ordered. "And a soda." the kid shut his mouth.

"Wow, miss your boyfriend surely eats a lot." He said as he ran their order.

"N-No, I'm no-" Natsu babbled before Juvia cut him off.

"You should see him when he's really hungry." she laughed, a small smile on her face. She reached for her hat only to remember it's not there. She was suddenly very aware of the women talking about how she was exposing a body covered in bandages, and the business man pretending not to check her out.

"You okay?" Natsu asked seeing Juvia suddenly go from her usual self to rigid blushing rock.

"Um...Juvia doesn't have her usual clothes since the….accident….during the mission, so she doesn't have the money she usually carries with her."

"Oh, don't worry about it!" Natsu smiled at her as he paid for their food. "I wanted to pay for us anyways." They took their food and started their journey to Juvia's house.

"So," Natsu said as he munched on the potato empanada. "How are you feeling? I mean….you know…."

She laughed, but it was a rather dry laugh. "Juvia's good. She's been in worse situations….working for a dark guild was not a good phase in Juvia's life...But now she's here with Natsu and everything is okay." Natsu could've sworn her hand tried to reach for his, but since she didnt, he didnt either. "Currently, however, Juvia needs a shower and decent clothes."

"Fair enough." He smiled. He looked over her body again, it was so weird to see her like this. Her legs, her arms her hair. He wanted to hide it so no one could see it ever. "Though, you don't look bad, just so you know…."

Juvia blushed. "Juvia knows."

They walked the rest of the way in happy silence.

* * *

I'M BACK!1!

*CRYING*

*POLICE SIRENS*

*GAVIN SCREAMING*

MERRY HOLIDAYS AND HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO Y'ALL

So since I did the thing that I hate when it come to fan fic writers, I've decided to make it up to you all by giving you five days of five days of christmas, so I WILL (cross my heart) be uploading every day until Christmas. And then on Christmas day i will maybe update again just cause y'all deserve it for waiting for me for so long.

HAPPY WHATEVER GUYS SEE YOU TOMORROW AND I LOVE YOU LET THE WORLD KNOW THE FIC IS ALIVE! ALLLIIIIIIVVVVEEEEEEE

(pardon any uncapitalized 'I's or 'Natsu's you might find, writing fics is hard enough as it is and now i'm trying to do it in a day.)


	11. Juvia thinks that someone else is you

Juvia's house was kinda cold. Usually it didn't bother her, but now with her shorts and thin shirt, she was suddenly very aware of how empty and chilling her house was.

She walked in with Natsu and they stood in silence for a few moments.

"So," Natsu said, trying for a smile. "Are you gonna go in or should I?"

She laughed and turned the lights on. Her house was just like she left it; bed unmade, two cups and a plate in the sink, and the closet half open. Still, something didn't feel right. She didn't want to be here.

"Juves?" Natsu turned her around, "I'm actually still hungry…."

Juvia relaxed, visibly getting happier. "Gosh, Natsu eats so much. He's gonna blow up like a balloon."

"That's my goal; I'll fly away."

They both laughed and made their way to her kitchen. He sat at the counter and watched her cook. He could tell she wasn't comfortable, and he couldn't blame her.

"If you're scared you can tell me." Natsu blurted out. She froze up. "Juvia there's nothing wrong with being shaken after what happened."

"Juvia's not scared." She kept her eyes on the pan.

"You don't have to be strong Juvia. There's nothing wrong with being scared-"

"It's not that Juvia's scared!" She turned to him. Natsu had expected her to cry or to be flushed, like when Lucy cried, but Juvia was calm and collected; that tugged at his heart even more. "Juvia is not so much scared as she's uncomfortable. She lost a battle because she was distracted. She harmed herself and her friends in the process!" She pointed at Natsu's bandaged hand. He blushed; he couldn't bringing himself up to tell her that was from punching a tree out of his own accord.

"Juvia," Natsu thought a second about what he was gonna say. "Are you gonna be okay if I leave you here by yourself?"

She thought about what to say and how to say it. "It's not so much that Juvia won't be fine if you go, it's more like…." she blushed. "Juvia doesn't want you to."

"You don't want me to go?" He asked, his heart beating in his ears.

"Juvia doesn't want Natsu to stay."

She returned her attention to the food, only to realize it had started to burn. She walked over to the bin and threw it out. She took a deep breath and turned around to explain to Natsu what she meant.

He was gone.

Juvia felt the tears starting to fill her eyes, her vision going blurry. She took a shaky breath.

She wiped her eyes and made her way around her house, locking every window and making sure all the blinds were closed.

Juvia looked in the mirror. It'd taken a while to take off the shirt, the shorts, and the bra she had on, since one of her arms was fully bandaged. She eyed her body on the mirror; the bandages were a little dirty from riding in the back of the pickup, and one of them was cutting off circulation around her ankle. It was a little bit of a struggle to take them all off, but it's not like she would've let Natsu help with the removing of anything from her body. She blushed at the thought.

Juvia had a naturally cool body temperature, the thought of his warm hands brushing against her skin when he removed the bandages...she shook her head and eyed her newly freed body in the mirror.

She looked fine. She felt sore, but the bruises and the scratches were completely gone. She kept her eyes on her body. She tried to smile at herself, but looking at her body after what had happened wasn't like before.

She washed her face, took a deep breath and looked again. She was fine.

She changed into her t-shirt and pajama pants, going around her house one last time to make sure everything was locked. She couldn't help but feel her heart accelerate. She knew everything was locked, but it didn't feel safe enough yet.

She went to lock her door, but as soon as she touched the doorknob she started to tear up again. She could hear the clouds starting to create a storm and she tried desperately to calm herself but she couldn't keep her breathing in check. She slid down onto the floor, back to her door.

Why did Natsu leave her?

Juvia knew this was her fault. It was true she didn't want him to stay, partly because she wanted to prove she was not scared; which was bullshit by this point.

On the other hand she just couldn't. She was still Gray's girlfriend, and even if her feelings were changing, she couldn't do that to him. She still was not sure if he had cheated on her or not, and maybe to some, just the speculation of the act was enough to do something about it.

But Juvia was not like that. Even if Gray had, she wouldn't. She made a promise to him, even if he doesn't know it, that she would be his until they called it quits.

She sat there trying to muffle her crying. She shouldn't have said that. She should've asked him to stay. She wanted Natsu here with her. She'd sent Gray home for a reason and she'd walked home with Natsu for the same reason. But the when it came down to it, she couldn't do it.

She couldn't bring herself to admit she might not be in love with Gray Fullbuster anymore.

Loud thunder resonated above her house. She screamed, getting up and pulling her door open. She ran out into the rain, shoeless and a sobbing mess.

"NATSU!" she sobbed. She turned a corner, and slammed onto someone.

They wrapped their arms around her and held her tight. "I'm here."

She kept crying. She couldn't even bring herself to hug him back. She just let him drag her home as she cried, the rain pounding on his back.

When they made it back to her house, he locked the door and darted for the bathroom to fetch some towels. He wrapped one around her and started to dry her hair as she calmed herself down. He kept saying 'it's okay, I'm here' in sweet whispers. He didn't try to talk with her or question why she'd ran out without shoes or why she was crying. He just let her cry for a bit as he brushed and hand dried her soaked locks.

He didn't even bother with his own wet clothes and hair, he was so preoccupied with the fact that Juvia was in discomfort that he didn't care.

After a while, she'd stopped sobbing, and her ragged breath was the only sound in the room, along with the rain. "Wait, Why was Natsu so close to Juvia's house?"

"Um…" Natsu froze up. He put the towel down and stood up, visibly embarrassed. "I never left." Juvia just stared at him with wide and sparkly eyes. "Maybe you weren't scared, Juves, but I was. I didn't want to leave you alone, but...I thought if I just sat down in front of your house I'd get arrested, so I went around the corner and hung out by the light post...but now that I think about it that looks even worse." He laughed to himself.

Juvia threw herself at him. She pulled him down by his head and kissed his forehead. Natsu's entire face went red.

"It's not that Juvia didn't want you to stay. She wanted to be strong and brave and it's easy to pretend to be okay when Natsu's here, but when Juvia's alone it's so hard to pretend. Thank you for staying with Juvia."

"No prob." He choked out.

"Here." Juvia pulled a jumper from the closet. "This is really big on Juvia, so maybe it will fit Natsu."

"Okay."

* * *

When he came back in the jumper and in his boxers, Natsu was still red. His ears were hot and he didn't know what to do. Most of the lights were of except for the one on Juvia's bedside table.

She was sitting on the bed with her back against the wall. At first Natsu didn't realize she was asleep, it wasn't until she snored that he figured it out.

He carefully laid her down and tucked her in. He picked up a pillow ready to make his way to the couch when he felt her cold hand take a hold of his. He could feel himself getting sweaty from nerves, which didn't help since he was in a jumper, which made it even more hot.

"W-What's wrong?"

"Stay?" she mumbled clearly half asleep.

"Wha-NO, Juves, I can't-" Natsu was flushed.

"Natsu…"

He turned to look at her; her eyes were sleepy, her mouth was parted as she breathed, and her cheeks were rosy. He swallowed.

Slowly he climbed into bed with her, trying to keep distance between them.

"Natsu?"

"Yeah?"

"Juvia….Juvia doesn't know what to do…." She sounded like she was about to cry again.

"About what?" He kept his eyes on the ceiling.

"Juvia's heart is confused. She spent so much time chasing after Gray." Natsu wanted so bad to tune her out, but he couldn't bring himself to ignore her. "She liked the way Gray made her feel….but she doesn't feel the same anymore." Natsu's heart stopped.

Neither one of them said anything after that. What is there to say as you're about to sleep next to your best friends girlfriend without his knowledge, and she just confessed to not feeling the same way about him.

After a while, Natsu broke the silence. "Why did you take him back then?"

"Because she still loves him….just not like before because-" She stopped herself.

He turned to face her for the first time since he'd laid down. Their eyes met and both of their faces went aflame. They both rolled over so their backs were to each other.

"Because what?" Natsu asked, he could feel a lump forming in his throat.

"Because...Juvia might be falling in love with someone else…."

Natsu felt overwhelmed. He felt like he was gonna puke.

Lureng was right.

He'd lost Juvia.

He should've said something sooner. Had he known this would happen he would've confessed that same night at the stairs of the Davensfort Manor. That seemed so long ago now.

"Oh," Natsu said. "Well, honestly I don't know what to say…."

"Same…."

More silence.

"Juvia's gonna go to sleep."

"Me too."

There was no goodnight.

Or maybe there was, and Natsu didn't hear it, for this time he did tone her out.

He shouldn't have though, for Juvia whispered something, mostly for herself, but she'd said it aloud for the first time anyway;

"Juvia thinks that someone else is you…"

* * *

ALRIGHT DAY TWO IS DONNEEE.

I am sorry this is a little shorter than usual (I am for at least seven pages but its hard to get back in the funk of writing these)

I'll see y'all tomorrow ONCE MORE!

Love, Baker

(Lmao i forgot to sign off in the last chapter oh well.)


	12. Good Morning Call

Morning came rather abruptly.

Unlike last time Natsu stayed the night, this time she wasn't awoken by Gray smashing his fist on the door, but rather Natsu's arm nailing her right on the nose.

She groaned, removing his arm from her face not so gently. She sat up and ran a hand through her head. She nodded to herself, pleased with the minimal knots in her hair this morning. She looked over at Natsu.

It wasn't the first time they'd shared a bed; they'd even slept in more compromising positions before, but this morning it felt more personal.

She let her eyes glide over him for a little bit. He'd repositioned himself so his arms were wrapped around her pillow. His hair was more tousled and messy than before, if that was even possible. He was drooling a little, but she thought of it as cute rather than gross...okay maybe a little gross.

He was still wearing the jumper she'd lent him. She laughed. What would Natsu say if she told him that was an old present meant for Gray? She smiled at she tugged on the jumper so it would cover his exposed back; it looked better on Natsu anyways. The grey cotton complimented his strawberry blonde hair and emerald eyes.

She pulled her hand away, her face flushed. She almost laughed at herself outloud. She was so cliche! She was staring at him longingly, while saying dumb things like strawberry hair and gem eyes; she smiled at the ceiling. She returned to her staring and eyed his face. His face was pressed against the pillow in that unflattering way where your face smushed together, but to Juvia he still looked handsome.

Sh reached to brush a piece of hair out of his forehead. She had to hold herself back. She wanted to plant a kiss on his forehead, just like last night. One sweeter, and warmer, and less soaked and sloppy.

She leaned in tentatively, but stopped herself, like she'd done before. She couldn't. Not yet. She took a deep breath and laid back down.

How did this happen? When did this happen? When did Juvia Lockser, the water witch, the girl crazy in love with Gray Fullbuster, stop being happy with how things were?

She'd worked so hard to win Gray's heart, and within a month of getting it she let it go. Or did he let go? It was still not clear. He seemed like he was trying to hold on, and by this point so was she.

But how to let go of something you used to hold so dear and you don't want to leave?

She sighed, and turned to face Natsu, only to be met with piercing green eyes fixed on hers.

She shrieked and sat up, feeling the hair on the back of her neck stand up.

"H-H-How long has Natsu been awake?!" she blurted, a lump in her throat from embarrassment.

"Not long," he groaned as he stretched. The jumper rose up exposing his tan skin. Juvia felt a shiver run down her spine.

"Oh," she tried to pat down her hair. "Is Natsu hungry? Juvia can make some egg and hash browns."

"That would be nice." he said, as he rolled over to lay on his stomach instead of his side.

He stretched out with a groan once more, burying his head into the pillow.

"Yeah, nice.." Juvia said, her cheeks still red.

She went off into the kitchen and started with breakfast, pushing the thoughts of how couple-like this was aside.

* * *

Natsu joined her shortly after she announced that breakfast was ready. He sleepily walked over to the kitchen and rested his arms on the entrance archway. He reached under the jumper to scratch his stomach; completely unaware of Juvia's undivided attention and shaking hands as she poured some juice in a cup.

"It'll overflow." He said, in a harsh tone masked by how unawake he still was.

"R-Right."

Juvia kept her eyes on the pan as she finished the hash browns and eggs, determined not to burn the food again. Natsu sat down at the counter and watched her with tired eyes and a slightly furrowed brow.

He wasn't mad at her so much as frustrated at himself for not doing anything right when it came to her. He kept playing back to last night. She wanted to prove she was brave, and he couldn't be mad at her for that; he'd played lone hero many times and by now knew that wasn't always the best way to go. But he also knew because of this, that being brave together is always better than being brave alone.

He was still incredibly butt-hurt over the fact that she kicked him out. Okay, so he ran away cause he got embarrassed at his 'you want me to stay?' moment and then being told flat out that she didn't want him there.

His frown deepened.

But then again, she did run out crying and calling his name.

That had to mean she wanted him by her side. Maybe it was just that, like she had said, it was easier to be strong together, which made sense, but….he wanted to believe there was more to that. Sure, he'd camped outside of her house cause he was scared for her and he wanted to protect her, but he also knew that it was more than that to him.

And it killed him not knowing if it was the same for her.

And who the fuck was this person she was falling in love with?! If it wasn't Gray, then who the fuck could be good enough for Juvia fucking Lockser?!

"Here." she set his food down in front of him with a smirk. "Juvia made a lot in case Natsu wants thirds!"

"Thirds?" he chuckled, pushing his swirling thoughts to the back of his mind.

"Well, Juvia already knows Natsu's gonna have seconds," she sat down next to him. "He always does."

"Are you calling me out?" He smirked back at her.

"Juvia is totally calling you out!" she stuck her tongue out at him.

And just like that, the last few days disappeared. They were back to the Juvia and Natsu from when she and Gray first started dating. Bickering and teasing back and forward; not a hint of angst and worry or awkwardness around them. How could something that had been troubling both be fixed by poking fun at Natsu's eating habits? Neither knew; but they liked the sight of the other smiling so much that neither cared.

As they ate it was quiet, mostly cause Natsu kept stuffing the hash browns in his mouth, and Juvia watched in a mix of awe and disgust at how fast he was eating. She had been doing a good job of hiding her grin until he almost fell of the chair trying to save a piece of bacon from falling on the floor; then she burst out laughing.

"Wha-" he tried to speak, but stopped himself as he realized more bit of sausage and potato would fall out if he talked with his mouth full.

"Juvia has never seen anyone enjoy her cooking with such gusto before. Specially not when they try and save a piece knowing there's a whole pan left!" she clutched her stomach as she tried not to fall over too.

He swallowed. "Well, it's really good. I've never had hash browns like this before…."

There was a knock on the door. Juvia smiled at him as she got up to see who it was. "Well, Juvia would love to make more for Natsu next time he stays for breakfast."

As she walked to the door, she missed Natsu's light blush and goofy smile. ' _She want's to have breakfast with me again!'_

Juvia opened the door to the mail man, who handed over a packaged and then left with a hearty "Have a nice day, Miss Lockser!"

Juvia walked back into the kitchen. To no one's surprise, Natsu was serving himself a larger portion of hash browns. He turned to face her. "What's in the package?"

"Juvia doesn't know, it's still closed." she set the package down, and pried it open. She took the envelope that rested atop a bunch of tissue paper.

"What does it say?" Natsu peaked as he set his head on her shoulder.

She felt the heat rise to her cheeks, and from the corner of her eyes she could tell he'd realize what he'd done and was now a little pink as well.

"Sorry, should I-?"

"Juvia doesn't mind, now shush!" she ripped the envelope open. She turned to see his face; he had a little smile on as he watched her unfold the letter.

 _ **Dear Juvia,**_

 _ **I know you said not to do this because you had it under control, but I was like 'why not!?' so I did it anyways!**_

 _ **Consider it an early birthday present!**_

 _ **I can't wait for the party, and you BETTER be wearing this when I see you there.**_

 _ **Love, Meredy**_

 _ **(Ps. You should really thank Lion when you see him at the party, he helped me pay for and alter the dress; he needed quite a few bandages afterwards.)**_

Juvia's eyes lit up. She tossed the letter aside and proceeded to tear off the tissue paper form the box.

Natsu stood back, his chin having been roughly removed from her shoulder as she wildly tore threw, surprisingly, many layers of tissue paper.

Once it was gone, inside the box remained a silver garment bag. Juvia took it out slowly, her hands shaking. She hung it from her closet door and reached for the zipper. Even Natsu felt a little out of breath when he saw the dress Meredy had sent; not because the dress was breathtaking or anything, but because he could picture Juvia in it, and she made it breathtaking.

She zipped it right back up and rummaged through her drawers.

"Aren't you going to try it on?" He asked as he went to sit on her bed.

"Yes, but not with Natsu here!" she said as she pulled out a long yellow skirt and a white long sleeve shirt.

"Why not?"

"Cause," Juvia turned to him with a bright smile, "Juvia wants Natsu to be as in awe as the rest of the guests at the party."

"Oh," he said. A little shyly, he added. "I still would be, you know…."

"Juvia knows."

He turned to meet her eyes, her smile was now gentle and infatuated (he didn't notice the later.)

"Natsu should change," she tossed one of Gray's button downs at him, as well as a pair of his trousers. "He needs to help Juvia with everything, the party is this upcoming weekend and there's a lot to do. Juvia's been handling most of the stuff herself, but she needs to run a lot of errands today and Natsu should help."

"Juvia, wait!" He stood up, Gray's clothes still in his hand.

Juvia stopped her flurry of actions, and turned to face him.

She looked down a little embarrassed, "S-Sorry, Juvia got a little carried away. Natsu doesn't have to help if he doesn't want to, and he certainly doesn't have to; it's just Juvia thought it be nice to spend the day together without having to worry about a mission or getting attacked. But if Natsu has stuff to do that's fine, Juvia can call someone else; she's sure Erza wouldn't mind helping her, or maybe Gray-sama would-!"

"That's not it!" Natsu interrupted her.

She took a breath, having been talking too fast to do it between sentences. "So….? What's the problem? Doesn't Natsu-"

"I just don't wanna wear that losers clothes." He laughed, a little abashed. "They don't fit me anyways since he grew a little taller than me, so we'll have to stop by my place first."

"Oh! So then….?" her eyes brighten up again.

"Yeah, of course I'll join you; it sounds like fun." he smiled at her.

She flashed him a big smile. "Great! Juvia's just gonna shower and she'll be right back!"

She ran to her bathroom and turned on the shower.

This time when she looked in the mirror, she couldn't help but smile even wider.

She was so happy. A whole day with Natsu.

Part of her felt guilty for looking forward to this; not to mention she'd told Gray she would meet him at the guild, but she was sure he'd understand if it was for the ceremony. He'd been so helpful with the flowers and the book-

Juvia's eyes flashed open. With the way her relationship with Gray was going, it wasn't clear whether or not the incantation would work. Usually partners did not recite the ritual, for parents and siblings had this bond of love with the mage, which was what made the magic happen. The coming of age ceremony was a way of transferring power and energy through bonds of love and affection.

She frowned as she ran her fingers through her hair.

Maybe Meredy could do the incantation. Erza and the Master were good candidates too; even Gajeel to some extent, but she couldn't help but be a little sad. She'd had her hopes up that it be Gray who read it because he loved her enough.

She let the shampoo rinse form her hair and into the drain.

What was she going to do….?

* * *

Natsu sat red faced on the bed.

She was naked.

She was naked, in a shower, in the room a few feet away.

He wanted to scream.

He tossed Gray's clothes on the floor.

' _Fuck. You.'_ he thought. ' _I swear to the Lord almighty, if I see your fucking face today, I'll break it. This is my date with Juvia, not yours, so fuck you!'_

He stopped in his tracks. Blushing even harder, he sunk to the ground. ' _It's not a date….but I'll have one of those with her someday too….'_

He huffed as he waited, trying to think of anything other than the fact that she was naked, in the shower, in that room right fucking there.

Needless to say, it felt like the longest seven minutes of his life.

* * *

Haha, idk why but I feel like if in the anime we got to see the side of Natsu that's awkward and shy this would be pretty close (not 100% accurate but close).

Keep an eye on my tumblr out for any art that I post of the fic; my arts not great, but you can see how I picture something and I think it'd be pretty neat to compare my image to yours :3

Loads of love and see ya tomorrow!

Love, Baker

(ps; i did not describe the dress cause it's a surprise.)

(pps; yes they both have clothes they use when not on a mission because if there's one thing that pissed me off about Fairy Tail was the fact that Lucy had a lot of outfit changes and no other characters did, so fuck that, Imma put Juvia in yellow and a straw hat, and Natsu in green and navy because why not.)


	13. Day Out In The Town

Shortly after Natsu had changer into some jeans and a green t-shirt, he and Juvia made their way downtown to the shopping district. While Juvia had her eyes glued to her checklist, taking notes on every flower shop they passed, all Natsu could focus on was her.

She looked so nice; he'd never seen her in her casual clothes. That was mostly due to the fact they only ever hung while at the guild, and never really made plans to see each other away from their magic filled lives.

She looked really cute in her straw hat and her sun glasses. He'd never put the pieces together as to why, even in the summer, she wore such long clothing, until she told him she burned easily under the sun. He couldn't help but laugh, since he'd seen her in a bathing suit so many times.

"So what are we here for again?" Natsu asked, trying to steal mints from behind the register.

"Stuff Juvia forgot to do before." she said as she eyed different flower arrangements. "Currently, flowers for the pillars pillars."

"So when's the party?"

She frowned as she started to fill out a form. "Saturday; didn't Natsu get the invitation? Juvia sent it with Happy."

Natsu sighted. "Yeah, well, Happy isn't really at home anymore, since he's dating Carla now and everything." he caught Juvia's concerned eyes on him, so he flashed her a smile. "It's fine! I'm happy for him!"

"But doesn't Natsu get lonely?"

He thought for a second. "A little, but I can always go to the guild to hang out with Lucy and Erza, or maybe fight with Gajeel and Gray." he saw her stiffen a little at the mention of Gray. 'Right….'

"Though, now I get to hang out with you too, so it's not that bad." they both smiled.

"Come on!" Juvia handed the clerk the forms, and pulled Natsu out of the store before he could steal more mints.

"Okay okay," he laughed. "So what are we missing?"

"We've got the flowers for the pillars, we have the centerpieces, and we've got the lights!" she shoved her checklist in his face.

"So….are we done?" He asked.

"Oh, yeah." she stepped back. "Natsu can go now if he wants."

"No, no, that's not what I meant!" he babbled. "Can we, like, you know, still hang out? Like, now?"

"Oh, of course!" she got really close to him in excitement, he could see the freckles starting to form on her nose from the sun. "Let's go to Juvia's favorite cafe! We can have some lunch!"

Juvia's favorite cafe turned out to be a little cafe next to a tattoo parlor and a bike shop; for some reason, this made a lot of sense to Natsu.

"So how does the ceremony work?" Natsu asked, taking a bite of his grill cheese sandwich.

"At midnight, when the moon is at it's highest point, the mage stands under the moonlight, holding the sacred flowers. There's an incantation that needs to be recited; here, look!" she pulled out a blue book. It had silver metal around the corners and was embroidered on the back cover, with a title that read "The Moon and Her Mages" under a silver moon crest.

She flipped through the book, Natsu catching glimpses of illustrations of beautiful mages and different moon diagrams. Finally, she stopped at a page with a bunch of scriptures around a drawing of a mage holding two flowers under a spotlight.

"Through the chant," Juvia pointed at the passages. "A member from the mage's family or a friend, someone they hold dear basically, passes their power. It's not so much giving up power for the mage; it's more like sharing it. They create a bond and link their souls, for sharing strength and energy in times of need. Usually, it's the mother or the father that reads the chant but…."

Natsu turned to face her and gave her a smile; they were in the same boat there.

"So, who's gonna read it for you?"

"Well…. Gray was going to do so, but…." She paused.

"Right."

Silence. Natsu pretended to be very interested on the flowers by the window, as Juvia kept her attention on her bubble tea.

Natsu cleared his throat and pulled the book closer to him. "Can I read it."

"What?" She choked on a boba ball.

"I mean-if you don't mind, I want to read the chant…." he held the book tentatively

"Oh. OH! Yeah, Natsu can read it." she laughed nervously, taking another sip of her tea.

Natsu cleared his throat.

"On this night, under this Moon,

I bind my soul with you.

I bind my heart, string to string.

I bind my mind, nerve by nerve.

As tide shall rise, and sun shall fall,

Your power will begin to grow.

Feel the Moon inside your veins,

And let this energy make its claims.

The crescent Moon is now you're home,

Know now, you will never be alone.

Come every night,

Our moon fulfills her plight.

To claim your heart, and claim your head,

And fill you with strength that meets no end.

The water is your refuge, and this bond our sanctuary.

All coming hardships and struggles, we now together carry.

You're a Mage of the Moon and her Ocean,

Remain courageous for it is your devotion."

Natsu turned to check on Juvia, whose eyes glistened and sparkled in admiration.

She let out a shaky sight. "That was wonderful, Natsu! Juvia couldn't have read it better herself." she wiped a tear from her eyes. "When the ceremony is performed, the reciter of the chant holds the mage by their head, as a symbol of vulnerability and trust." she flipped the page to an illustration of a man and a woman pressing their foreheads together.

"Who are they?" he asked, tracing the woman's face.

She giggled. "Juvia doesn't know; this is a reprint of an old book, so these people could be anyone."

"Right." He said, picturing the man with green eyes and the girl with long blue hair.

* * *

As they made their way down the lines of shops once more, Juvia seemed a lot more aware of the fact that she was alone with Natsu, and that to onlookers, it probably looked like the two of them were on a date. Not to mention she probably looked silly with her hat and her shades. He didn't seem to have a problem with the sun though, which should've been obvious since his thing was fire!

All the concerns were erased from her mind when they passed a store with a 'sale' sign in front of it.

Immediately some men's dress shirt's caught her eye in the far back of the store.

"Oh my god! Natsu has to try those on!" She grabbed his arm and dragged him inside.

She started to shuffle through the racks, picking out shirts that would look good on him and pushing aside ones that would not suit him.

Natsu looked around the store. Usually he wouldn't shop in places like these; he stuck to basic shops, rarely buying clothes in different stores from where he got his groceries and household items from. Not to mention even if the sign said 'sale', Natsu knew this would still be pricey. He eyed the women's section.

He'd gone shopping with Lucy a few times, mostly for her, so he knew how to pick womans clothes. However, picking something for Juvia was a little more complicated than picking for Lucy, seeing as anything that caught Natsu's eyes he deemed more Lucy style than Juvia style.

"Natsu?"

"Hmm?"

"Does Natsu own dress pants? Or dress shoes?" She asked as she carefully draped three shirts over her arm and walked over to him.

"I don't think so?" he said, and then a little more embarrassed he added. "Unless sneakers and jeans count."

"Alright, so we'll get some of those too!" she smiled at him. "What was Natsu looking at?" she handed him the shirts as she flipped through the rack to find him some dress pants.

"Oh, nothing in particular." he eyed the clothes Juvia had picked out for him. All the shirts were white, but had different detailing. One shirt had gold and blue patterns on the mid length sleeves and collar; the other one had swirls next to the buttons and on the cuffs; the last one's sleeves had a flower pattern. These were certainly not something he would've chosen for himself.

"Here!" Juvia handed him a pair of plain black dress pants. "These should fit, Juvia's going to search for some shoes! Stay here."

She shoved him into a dressing room and walked away.

He tried on the one with the flowers on first. He was pretty surprise to see it fit so well. The flowers were a pale pink that complimented his hair rather nicely. He looked down at the rest of his clothes; sneakers and jeans were certainly not good enough for these shirts. Along with the swirly shirt, he tried on the dress pants; he didn't like this one that much. The grey swirls looked like something Gray would wear, though he will admit he looked way better than Gray would.

He tried on the last one with the blue and gold patterns; personally, he felt he looked pretty put together. He really liked how he looked, not to mention, the sleeves weren't too long; he hated long sleeves. He looked down at his sneakers once more. They most certainly did not go.

"Juves?" he stepped out, trying to spot her in the store. She was standing by a case, eyes on some of the jewelry they had on display. They had different chain designs and offered different gemstones and gem designs. He didn't know what shined more, her eyes or the colored crystals; they might as well be the same thing by this point. "Juvia?"

He didn't think her eyes could get brighter, but a galaxy exploded in them when she turned to face him.

Her eyes scanned all over his body, a small gasp on her lips. She ran her fingers down the shirt, smoothing out wrinkles and fixing his collar. This reminded him of when he'd seen her atop the stairs at the Davensfort Manor, except this time she was the one that couldn't take her eyes off him; he felt pleased and shy at the same time, and more cocky than before.

"Natsu looks so handsome." she said in a dreamy voice, then caught herself, coughed, and added. "Natsu should buy this one; it looks good."

"No, nuh-uh, you can't save yourself with a cough." Natsu said, feeling brave even with his burning cheeks. "You totally think I look hot." he leaned into her, his hands resting on either side of her on the glass case.

To his surprise, and a little bit of hers, she leaned in as well, a little more confident and a little more red than before. "Juvia always thinks Natsu looks hot."

The air between them changed. Natsu had this need to press her against the counter behind her, and she wanted to pull him by the waist so their hips would be aligned. God knows what would've happened had the clerk not interrupted.

"AHEM!" he was clearly not okay with this sort of display at his store. "Here are the shoes you wanted miss, which I will take a wild guess and say are for him?"

They backed away from each other, a little out of breath and more than a little flushed.

"Yeah…." she said brushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

Natsu tried on the shoes and a belt the clerk had brought him. It took a while for him to change back, since he'd never seen himself this put together and he was rather into it.

When he finally did change, he gathered the clothes he'd tried on and started to make his way to the front were Juvia was waiting. He was rather thankful that old man Davensfort had been so generous with his pay, cause even with the sale signs plastered on every corner of the store, he did not trust the price to be low in any way, shape, or form.

He passed by the jewelry counter she was by earlier, eyeing some of the gemstones they had.

"Excuse me sir?" a lady came over to the counter, "Would you like to look at some of the jewels?"

He peeked around for Juvia, but she seemed to be entertaining herself with the clerk at the front. He turned back to the girl. "Make it quick, please."

* * *

When they left the store, the sun was starting to set. They were both a little surprised since it hadn't felt like a lot of time had gone by since they came into the store.

"So…." Natsu turned to her with a grin. "Wanna get dinner too? I know this great ramen place if you're down for it!"

She matched his grin. "Juvia is totally down. How much is Natsu gonna eat? Two bowls?"

"Juvia you insult me!" he mocked hurt, then smirked at her. "I always aim for three."

They snickered as they started to walk. Juvia was holding the bag with the shoes, while Natsu carried the bag with the shirt and his pants, as well as the belt that he decided he could not possibly leave behind, since he looked fantastic in it.

As they walked, their free hands brushed together, making them both pull away, feeling the heat rise to their face. They stopped walking for a second, feeling awkward at the thought of it happening again.

'Jeez, Natsu get it together.' he thought to himself. He took a deep breath, and mustered all his confidence. "Juvia?!"

"Y-yeah?" she turned, a little startled by his volume.

"Can you hold this for me?" he asked, a little weaker than before.

"Hold what?"

"This." he stretched his hand out.

Juvia felt her blush deepen. She looked at his hand, and then at him; he had a small pout on his face and a blush across the bridge of his nose. He looked a little child-like; it was adorable. The sunset really complimented his skin, and the pink of his cheeks, and the green of his eyes.

He looked at her out of the corner of his eyes. His eyes widen as they made eye contact with hers, so he averted his gaze, sinking his head into his shoulders as his face burned more.

She laughed and laced their fingers together.

He stared at her with wide eyes. She smiled brighter.

She started to walk, tugging on his hand so he'd join her. He laughed, his eyes sparkling under the setting sun. He matched her pace as they walked hand in hand.

They didn't care anymore.

But the person watching them from the other side of the street did. He just didn't say anything as he walked away.

* * *

Am I going to slow? Do I need to speed this fic up? I just really don't want their relationship to feel forced, and I think Domestic! Navia is so cute d(´ ∀｀)b

But really, it depends on what my lovely audience thinks! But personally since, the party is the place where I want the fic to end (with a maybe bonus chapter hint hint) and the party is pretty close, I wanna slow down just to make sure everything is in place. (also this chapter takes place on a thursday just so you see how close to saturday it is)

Anyways! I Love Youuuuu! See You Tomoooorroow! Byeee!

Xoxo, Baker.

 **(ps.- sorry i posted this a little late, i meant to finish writing and proof reading earlier but i went out, and when i came home i had to straighten my sisters hair {she has a lot of hair})**


	14. Shocker, Am I Right?

Friday came like a ton of bricks falling on Juvia. Really it was just her alarm under her pillow. She peeked from under her blankets at the time on the clock. She was supposed to meet the people form the tent people to set up at the park at nine; it was 8:37 and the park was thirty minutes away from her house.

She darted out of bed, knowing she didn't not have time for either a shower nor breakfast, so she just rushed into the bathroom to get ready. She almost screamed when she saw herself in the mirror. Her hair was twice its usual size, and she had yesterday's mascara smudged under her eyes. Hurriedly, she tied her hair back in a knot, scrubbing at her face and teeth as fast as she could.

She didn't even bother with a nice attire, since today she would just be working the whole day, so she put on a jumper, some overalls, and work boots. She grabbed her satchel, a baseball cap, and her shades and rushed out of her house.

She was very aware of all the weird looks she was getting as she made her way to the park at full speed, in a jumper, mid June. She didn't care; the heat didn't bother her.

She could see the park at the end of the street, a big truck parked right outside the gate. A man stood leaning against the truck, tapping away at a screen. She eyed her watch; 9:13. ' _Goddamnit.'_ She thought as she sped up, now panting slightly.

"Juvia's sorry she's late!" she tried to catch her breath.

"It is fine! The truck was delayed by six minutes so really we've only been waiting seven minutes and nothing goes totally right the day before a big celebration." he said as he flicked through some checklist on his tablet. "Follow me we have to set up the tent."

Juvia caught her breath, and followed the man inside. "How many people will be helping us?"

"I am not certain, you're friend said more people are coming."

"My friend?"

"Juvia!"

She turned around with a huge smile, Natsu's name at the tip of her tongue, only to find herself face to face with Gray.

She tried her best to not let her disappointment show. "Gray...sama, what are you doing here?"

He tried not to show the tinge of hurt he felt as he saw her smile falter. "I'm here to help you! Tomorrow may just be a ceremony to you, but to me, it's the day one of the most wonderful people I know was born. So I want to help you make it happen and make it special."

Her smile soften into a more genuine one. She hugged him. "Thank you, that really means a lot to Juvia." they held each other at arm's length.

They both had so many things they wanted to say to each other, but they didn't know if they were ready to tell or to hear what the other had to say. Unconsciously, their grip on each other tightened.

Juvia wanted to tell him she loved him. She did and always would; but things were different now. There was Natsu. There was his eyes, and his hands, and the way that he drooled when he slept of the fact that he liked to eat so much of her cooking even though deep down she knew she wasn't very good at making anything. There was that night at Davensfort Manor, that entire mission they just came back from, yesterday and the night before that. There was such an overwhelming sense of jubilance and warmth around him. She couldn't deny she loved him.

And then there was what Gray wanted to say to her. He wanted to tell her he loved her, and he was sorry. He was sorry he'd taken so long to see what he had in front of him. He was sorry he'd ever thought anything poor of her, or called her attention and affection annoying. How lucky was he to have had someone who loved him unconditionally and praised him even in his lowest moments? And he'd stupidly let go. And as hard as he was trying to reach back and grasp and hold on. He knew she was gone; she was hanging by a finger. And it was all because he fucked up and don't keep it in his pants.

"Via?"

"Yes?"

She could feel the pressure of his fingers through her jumper, and he could feel her nails digging into his skin.

"I-"

"YO!"

They both turned to see Natsu and the rest of their friends coming in, all dressed ready to work.

"Are you two just gonna stare at eachother the whole the whole day of are you gonna help us setup for a party?" Gray and Juvia picked up the hint of salt in his voice and dropped their arms.

With a final weak look at each other, the split up so they could set up the tarp.

No one seemed to notice there was someone missing from their usual gang.

* * *

Setting up the tent had been easy enough. In fact, it was Erza and Elfman who set all the posts and refused to let anyone else help in securing anything.

Everyone else was either decorating the interior walls of the tent, the outside, setting the tables or setting the dance floor.

It was all going pretty peacefully, there was a lot of bantering and laughing, and only three fights broke out which Juvia was sure was a record; especially seeing as all the fights included Natsu.

The first fight was with Gray, for they were arguing on whether the crystal ball was centered or not (it was not). Juvia had been a little stressed over this, since they kept trying to get her involved as some sort of dick measuring contest she was sure.

The second fight was an actual dick measuring contest, which Mira and Erza tried to stop almost as soon as it started. By this point Juvia has given up fighting and had placed a bet with Lisanna, to whom she lost the bet to, but only because when Natsu was about to pull his pants down, Erza punched him so hard he actually knocked over one of the tarp poles, which thankfully Elfman caught, otherwise they would have had to start all over again.

By the third fight, Juvia had taken a seat at one of the tables and peacefully started to work on a centerpiece as the rest of the girls in the guild tried to stop Natsu and Gray from killing each other.

Unsurprisingly, it even though everyone from Carla and Wendy to Laxus and Freed had come to help set up for tomorrow, they didn't finish until around four in the afternoon. It'd been worth it though.

Outside the tarp, the tries were covered in lights and floating endless candles that filled the air with a sweet, flowery smell. The tarp walls had been enchanted by Reedus to have moving vines of white roses and orchids.

The inside walls were also enchanted with different passages from 'The Moon and Her Mages'. Orbs of light and endless candles floated freely around the roof of the tarp. At the center was the dance floor and above it was the cristall ball, charmed to split into little mirror pieces that would move around to the beat of the music. Once the moon was aligned with the opening on the tarp tomorrow night, the entire room would be showered in rays of red moonlight and all the delicate white and blue crystal details Juvia had been stressing over for the past few weeks would've all been worth it.

Juvia sighed as she closed the drapes to the tarp and enchanted it to stay closed until tomorrow.

She couldn't wait anymore.

And then she couldn't stop thinking about the ceremony aspect of the celebration, and no longer wanted tomorrow to come.

What if the incantation didn't work? What if Gray did not want to read it anymore? What if he did even though she was no longer sure that she wanted him to?

She tried to take a deep breath. She started her commute to her house. Everyone had started heading home a while ago. She'd hoped that Natsu or Gray would hang around; Gray because she needed to talk to him, Natsu cause, well, it's Natsu.

But he and Gray had actually been the first to leave, probably searching for some other place to go beat the crap out of each other.

She stopped for some food on her way back home. She hadn't had breakfast, or lunch, and she'd been running around trying to make sure no one broke anything.

She was also very tired, stressed, and not very clean, seeing as she had not showered this morning.

She stared out the window as she waited for her take out to be ready. The sun wasn't setting yet, but for some reason Juvia couldn't help but feel sleepy. She was so scared for tomorrow as well as excited. She reached into her satchel and pulled out her wallet.

Before her parents left her, they'd told her stories of their own coming of age; her mother had even given her a picture of herself and her father dancing at his coming of age. She liked to stare at the picture she kept in her wallet sometimes. She didn't remember her parents voice, of their touch; but she remember what she'd said to her.

" _One day, you will find someone who'll love you enough to bond with you, moon or not."_

Juvia didn't have a choice though. The chant had to be performed by someone who loved the mage unconditionally; a bond had to be made in order for the energy to flow. But Juvia's parents were long gone. And Gray…

She felt her mood worsen, the sky starting to cloud.

"Lockser?" the guy behind the counter called out.

"Thats me." Juvia snapped out of her funk. She slipped the picture back into her wallet and pushed all her nerves and worries to the side.

* * *

Juvia had learned to always carry her umbrella. At first it was because she could not get the rain to go away, even since her parents passed. Now, it was because it was like second nature; every time she was sad, the rain would come. Stress, anger, fear; they all triggered different things in the weather.

Right now it was simply raining.

The air was moist, and the raindrops were warm. She was tired.

She held her food close to her chest so it wouldn't catch any stray drops from her umbrella. She walked slow, not caring how long it took her to walk home. She could not shake off the nerves for tomorrow.

It was all fun and games; dress shirts and flower arrangements, until you remember you have to stand under the moon, holding two flowers while someone reads an old poem, so that you and that someone can be bounded for life; not only that, but that chant also affected your future as a mage. Lovely.

She sighed exasperated.

As she got closer to her house, she realized someone was sitting at the steps. They had sweat pants and a hoodie on, and to say the least, looked suspicious as hell.

"Gray?" she called out cautiously, ready to swing her umbrella at them if needed.

"Sorry to disappoint." Lucy pulled her hood back. Her nose was runny, and she looked as tired as Juvia felt, if not worse. "Can we talk?"

Juvia knew she had a shocked look on her face, and as hard as she tried to not show it, she couldn't help it. She hasn't seen Lucy around in….she didn't even know anymore. Not that she was complaining; while Juvia stopping biting at her since when she and Gray started dating, she had never been fond of Lucy, simply because she was everything Juvia had once wanted, and maybe still wanted to be.

A pretty, confident, secure, boy magnet. Juvia for most of her life dealt with people not wanting her around due to her rain predicament, so when she met Lucy, immediately she felt a dislike for her out of envy, spite, and jealousy. She wasn't gonna lie and say her anger was valid, but she also wasn't gonna pretend to like her all of a sudden. It was hard to like someone you spent so much time disliking.

"Sure." Juvia opened the door to her place, letting Lucy walk in first. "Wait here, Juvia's going to get you dry clothes; she may be a water witch but she likes her place dry."

She meant for that to be a playful poke at one of the names Lucy used to call her when Juvia stepped out of line with her, but all Lucy did was cringe at the mention of the name. Juvia cleared her throat and made her way to the kitchen to set her food down.

She got Lucy a dry sweater and a clean pair of sweatpants and showed her where the bathroom was. She was more than a little concerned. It's not like they didn't have their moments of female bonding and good times, but if Lucy Heartfilia came to her while looking like she hadn't left the house since the last time she'd seen her then something was up, and Juvia didn't like it.

Lucy came out of the bathroom, and Juvia immediately thrusted a cup of tea into her hands. "Listen, Juvia doesn't know what's wrong with Lucy, but when she looks like this, it's not any fun to make fun of her or be jealous of her!"

She took a sip of the tea and snickered. "You think it's fun to be jealous of me?"

Juvia relaxed, seeing the color starting to return to Lucy's cheeks. "Not really, but it's better than pouty Lucy."

She smiled weakly. "Juvia, there's something i need to tell you, and I know you're going to hate me for the rest of my life, and I'll understand if you hate me but I can't do it anymore. It's killing me inside out and I can't-"

"Lucy." she rested her hand on her shoulder and smiled. "Juvia already hates you."

They both laughed. Lucy took a deep breath. "I think I fell in love with your boyfriend."

Oh. OH.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"How did...when did Lucy…?"

"It was right before you and Natsu went on that Mission to Davenport. Before we returned we stayed at a bath house hotel. Erza was passed out tired along with Natsu, but me and Gray went for drinks. He was so drunk he couldn't walk straight. I was tipsy, but not drunk; not at all. And i knew he was with you, and he loved you. But I couldn't stop. Have you ever wanted something so bad, but you're so afraid to have it?"

"Yeah…" she thought back to Natsu and the weird air around them at the store.

"Well, I was so afraid I ran. I kissed him….and then i ran." she paused to see if she'd react, but Juvia's eyes were glued to her, filled only with concern and understanding, which was scarier than revealing all this to her. "When i felt brave enough to come back, I saw him leave the woman's restroom. Shortly after another girl came out. She was blond like me, but her eyes were blue, and she was slimmer and taller." she paused, fighting back tears. "I don't know if he thought that was me, or something, but I can't help but feel...it was my fault. He got drunk with me, and I left him alone, and in the haze he cheated on you and I-!"

"Is Lucy okay?"

"What?" she felt Juvia's arms wrapped around her. "Why….? Juvia, had I stayed I can't guarantee I wouldn't have slept with him…!"

"Oh Juvia gets that, and you're right; she does hate you for causing all the problems Juvia and Gray are having, even if you didn't technically sleep with him." she heard Lucy gulp, she sighted. "But Juvia also has to thank you."

"But why?!" Lucy was sobbing now.

Juvia held Lucy's face, wiping her tears way with her thumb. "Because Juvia's ready to let go now."

"I don't understand…."

"Lucy doesn't have to." she stood up, pulling her to her feet. "I think lucy need to eat something. And so does Juvia, so let's go eat, and Juvia can try and kill you later, okay?"

She made a noise that was a mixture between a sob and a laugh. "Okay…"

* * *

THIS IS SORTA RUSHED CAUSE I WAS DETERMINED TO UPDATE TONIGHT AND I GOT IT IN BEFORE TWELVE SO IT COUNTS HA SUCK IT GUYS. (jk i love you all)

I know a lot of you were asking me not to pair Gray and Lucy, but listen; I've got this.


	15. The Coming Of Age Ceremony pt 1

Morning came, but she couldn't bring herself to leave her bed. The party wasn't until nine pm, so she was in no hurry to get ready yet or anything, but she didn't like to feel like she was wasting time. She looked at the clock. It was already ten thirty, and she hadn't even bothered to roll out of bed to pee.

She got up to use the bathroom. Thinking it be a good idea to get something done instead of climbing back into bed, she cleaned up her living room, made her bed, and took out the trash. She made some breakfast and cleaned any left over dishes from this morning and last night.

Lucy had left after she ate, even though Juvia had offered her couch to her. She'd never really thought she and Lucy would have a girls sleepover or anything, but she recognized someone that needed a shoulder to lean on when she saw them.

Was she pissed at Lucy, yeah a little! She made out with her boyfriend, even if they were both drunk that was no excuse! So what if she didn't sleep with him? She could still blame her for the happening.

She sighted.

No; no, she couldn't. Juvia couldn't pin the blame on Lucy for Gray's poor and drunken decisions, but the fact that the girl he slept with was apparently Lucy-looking stung. She didn't want to imagine what would've happened if Lucy hadn't tried to stop herself and ran from him; at least she knew that even drunk, Lucy had a conscience and a working guilt.

She finished with the dishes and thought she might as well vacuum and mop her house.

She wasn't even mad anymore, just hurt. She wished Gray had the balls to tell her what he'd done. Maybe that's what he had to tell her yesterday? She hoped.

Did she want to hear her boyfriend admit he'd slept with someone else? No, who in their right mind would? But she preferred honesty rather than finding out from his friends, cause at least his honesty meant he respected her enough.

But what would she have said? How would she have reacted? Probably very poorly, but goddamnit she couldn't pretend their relationship had any hope of being saved now!

Not only did she find herself growing more and more distant from him, but now she knew the trust between then was gone.

And if she couldn't trust him, how could she try and fall in love with him again?

She wiped her brow, turning off the vacuum and putting it back in its covert.

She was about to start mopping when she heard a knock on the door. She did not want to see anyone before the ceremony, but she couldn't pretend she wasn't home, as her walls were pretty thin, so they surely heard the vacuum a few seconds earlier.

"Coming."

Gray was at the door; speak of the devil.

He looked like he hadn't slept that well, and he was sporting a small cut under his right eye, probably from fighting with Natsu.

They stared at each other for a second before Juvia stepped to the side and signaled for him to come in. He walked over to her kitchen, and she set the kettle for tea. She sat down opposite to him.

The silence was heartbreaking, like someone dear to them had died; or in this case, something.

"Are you nervous?" he said after what seemed like forever.

"What if it doesn't work? What if the ceremony fails? There's no real consequence to not doing the coming of age, but Juvia's wanted to do this for so long, to have a connection that lasts; to be part of something so real and important to her people and their traditions. But what if it doesn't work?" she could feel herself tearing up.

"It will work."

"Gray can't know that for sure." she shook her head as she buried her face in her hands.

"I do know."

"How could he-"

"Because I won't be doing it."

She looked up at him, tears trailing down her cheeks. "What?"

"Juvia, I can't read the chant for you…" he looked her in the eyes, his expression a mixture of guilt, and hurt, and anger, and Juvia had never seen anything more heartbreaking in her entire life. "Because I cheated on you…"

Juvia just watched him cry; she had the answer to her question from before. What would she have done? She would've hugged him, like she was going to do now.

She got up and walked over to him, she raised her arms to hug him, but he flinched and smacked her arms away.

"Don't!" he croaked out.

"Gray…." she tried for the hug again.

"NO, JUVIA!" he stood up, grabbing her by the wrists. "YOU CAN'T DO THAT! YOU CAN'T-" he sobbed, choking on his emotions. "...you can't be like this…."

"Like what?" she felt another tear fall from her eyes.

"You can't be lovely like you always are! I'm crumbling over here, 'Via….I'm hating myself more than I've ever have before, and the fact that I…!" he swallowed hard. "Why aren't you hitting me? Why aren't you yelling?! Why aren't you hating me right now!?"

She freed her hands and wrapped her arms around his body, pressing her forehead into his chest. "Thank you."

He cried. She'd never seen him cry this much before. But he cried, and buried his head on her shoulder. He kept telling her he was sorry.

By the time the kettle made the noise signaling the water was ready, Gray's gross sobbing had toned down into small sniffles. Juvia brought him and herself a cup of tea and sat down. She was next to him this time.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you before….I just didn't know if I wanted to…." he said quietly. Juvia cupped his face, gently caressing the cut under his eye with her thumb. He leaned into her touch. "But….you already knew, didn't you." she gave him a sheepish smile. He grabbed her hand, pressing it closer to his face. "Why didn't you do anything then? You just told me to go. You didn't scream, you didn't curse me; and now you hug me….why?"

"Because Juvia will always love you." she said, her voice cracking a little. "Gray saved her from the rain, and from the wrong path she was following. He gave her one of the best months of her life and he returned her love, even if it was for a little. And now Juvia knows….Gray is not the one for her."

He didn't look shocked nor sad, in fact a little smirk appeared on his face. "Not hot enough for you am I?"

"What?" she laughed, a little confused.

"C'mon, 'Via, you thought I wouldn't notice? Inviting Natsu on a mission, sending me home by myself; and I saw you two holding hands the other day."

"Y-Y-You saw that!? Juvia didn't-! She means-! She-!" she fumbled for words, feeling the heat rise to her cheeks.

He laughed, bringing her hand to the table so he could hold it between his own. "It's okay." he smiled for the first time this morning. "I hadn't seen you so happy in days."

"Gray…" she could feel tears prick at the back of her eyes.

"I didn't want to let go, because I didn't want to hurt and lose one of the best people I'd ever had in my life. But by holding on, not only was I doing what I feared, but I was also keeping you from your happiness." he held her hand tightly. "I'm ready to let you go Juvia; as long as you're ready too."

She nodded "Juvia will always love you though!" she said with a giggle as she reached over to give him another hug.

In the process, Juvia knocked over her cup of tea, getting it all over the table and the floor.

"No!" she laughed, looking a little defeated. "Juvia just had to mop, but now she has to clean this up too! Gray should help clean it up."

"No thanks; I didn't spill any tea." he laughed at her. She glared at him, trying to hold in her grin. He must've read her mind, for a second before she swiped at his cup, he picked it up and chugged the tea down. He wiped his mouth with a satisfied sigh. "Now I can say I most definitely did not spill my tea."

"You suck!" she shoved him with a glare, though she couldn't hide her amusement.

"What are friends for?" they shared a smiled once more; all felt right with each other again. "I have to go; got things to do before your big day."

Juvia froze. "The ceremony! What's Juvia going to do?! She had now one to read the chant?!" she turned to Gray. "Gray has to read it, she has no one else to-!"

But he was gone.

* * *

After she finished up with the mopping and the kitchen, Juvia really didn't have anything to do. So she'd killed time by watching a movie that was definitely not worth the two hours she spent watching it. She looked at the clock; three pm. Still three hours until the party, and she now truly had nothing to do.

She walked over to her closet. She had bought a cute little dress a while back for tonight. It was a simple dress, with long sleeves and a flared skirt. She pulled out the garment bag and laid both on her bed. She unzipped the garment bag; this dress was definitely better than the one she'd gotten.

The dress was made from a semi sheer collar shirt and an asymmetrical handmade flower skirt. Meredy had added some extra touches with golden buttons and spikes on the collar, and making it so that it was partly backless. Juvia beamed with happiness as she ran her hand down the material's seams. So much effort had gone into making the skirt, and it'd come out lovely.

She walked back to her closet. She'd bought some flats with spikes on a drunken daze a few weeks back, and she'd had no idea what she'd ever wear them with until now. She also had a lot of gold jewelry; she usually didn't wear any, but the little gold touches would really suit the outfit.

As she rummaged through her drawers, she found a little black bow. It was meant to be used on your hair, but it could just as easily pass for a bow tie. She was starting to get excited again; after all this was also her birthday; she was allowed to get excited.

She, however, was still very stressed.

She knew everything would be fine, she could get other people to read the incantation; one didn't have to have it memorized for it to work.

She took a deep breath and headed to the bathroom to shower. She wasn't sure how long she was in there. She sung, she practiced her posture for the ceremony, sung some more, practiced her dance moves, had a fake conversation to practice what she would say in case Gray actually didn't go through with the reciting the incantation, and she also actually showered.

She usually never blow dried her hair, since she could usually dry it instantly, but today she felt like wasting time in a productive manner, so she did, and it took her longer than she thought it would've.

She also rarely wore makeup, if she did it was only concealer and mascara like she had when she'd gone shopping with Natsu. It wasn't cause she didn't like it or anything, it was simply because she was usually working, and makeup didn't go great with sweat, torn clothes, and the occasional bloody….everything.

But today was different.

She put on her concealer and her mascara, deciding that today she was also going to wear eyeliner, lipstick, and maybe bother with her eyebrows.

She had forgotten how hard it was to get eyeliner to look good, so it took her a while to get it right. The eyebrow tweezing and filling in was easy and her lipstick was fine; she like the shade Mira had given her last Christmas.

She left the bathroom and checked the time; eight pm. She'd been in the shower far too long. She felt guilty, knowing that was such a waste of water. Time simply went so much faster in the shower. Not to mention it must've taken at least thirty minutes to dry her hair

She got dressed, putting on the dress Meredy and Lyon had sent her. She couldn't stop looking at herself in the mirror. Every time she twirled the dress swished behind her, the flowers on the dress seemingly curling around the skirt. She put her flats on, and tied the bow around her neck.

She also put on all the golden bracelets and the golden watch she had. Once again, she was engrossed with herself. It was nice to see herself and not feel a pit in her stomach again. She would never forget that night in the woods, but by being ashamed and scared of her body she was only hurting herself.

She pulled her hair up in a bun, some of her curls going astray. She grabbed her purse, putting everything she might need inside; her mobile, her makeup bag, her wallet, her keys, some perfume, mints, some tissues, and the book.

She looked around the room confused. She knew she'd left the book on the bookshelf next to the door, but it was no longer there. She looked everywhere; kitchen, living room, the other bookshelf, the bathroom, her closet, and she even unmade the bed just in case she'd made the bed and left the book under the covers.

Nothing. She looked at her watch, it was eight fifteen and she had to get there before everyone so she could double check with the catering and the dj, so she didn't have anymore time to lose.

Frustrated, and now certain this night was going to go south, she slammed the door of her house and stopped her way to the park.

* * *

The lights and candles outside the tent were on and the magic walls were glowing, but there seem to be no lights inside, it was also very quiet.

She checked her watch; she had fifteen minutes before people started to show up and it was deserted, no sight of any one.

She pulled out her phone to call the catering service. A ringing came from inside the tent, startling her. She held on to her phone tightly as ringing kept echoing from inside. She reached for the tarp flap and pulled it open.

The lights came on, music erupted, confetti exploded, and all of her friends rushed over to her calling out 'surprise!' and 'happy birthday!'.

Juvia felt all her worries melt away.

"Juvia!" Meredy pushed her way through the crowd, dragging Lyon by their laced hands. Meredy got a good look at what she was wearing and her whole face brightened up. "You're wearing it! It looks so good on you! I'm so happy! Lyon, doesn't she look lovely?!"

"She does! I'm glad my being a human pin cushion was worth it!" he laughed.

They started to bicker back and forward about their dress making abilities, and whilst they did that, Juvia got a good look at her friends. Meredy's hair was up in a ponytail with a white flower. She was wearing a cute little white dress and Lion was in an all black attire except for his tie which was holographic and, in Juvia's professional opinion, very cool. She kept her eyes on their hands, they were still intertwined.

She felt a sting in her heart.

"Juvia?"

"Huh?"

"Meredy was asking about Gray, we haven't seen him yet; did he say why he was going to come late? Honestly it's his girlfriend's birthday AND her coming of age ceremony thing and he's not here yet? That bastard!" Lyon looked at her, annoyed at Gray on her behalf.

"Juvia doesn't know if he's even coming…." she admitted, looking a little sheepish. "She and Gray sorta broke up earlier today."

"HE DUMPED YOU ON YOUR BIRTHDAY?" Meredy beat Lyon into outrage. "COME ON BABY WE'RE GOING TO GO KICK HIS ASS; I'M CALLING JELLAL SO HE CAN TELL ERZA AND SHE CAN KICK HIS ASS TOO!"

"No wait!" she grabbed them by the wrists. "It was mutual! Juvia was in love with someone else!"

"Who?!" they both turned to her, eyes wide in curiosity.

She was about to tell them everything, when a mic buzz caught their attention. "Hello everyone." Gajeel took the center of the dance floor, guitar in hand. "I have a song for our birthday girl, someone force her over here with me!"

Sensing her embarrassment and amusement, Meredy and Lyon dragged her from the entrance to the dance floor as Laki pulled a chair for Juvia. Everyone was starting to get pumped up, even though they all knew Gajeel was a….peculiar singer.

Juvia was laughing as she made her way to the crowd, Gajeel's suit had little metal details throughout, and one of the cuffs had a bite taken out of it. Before Meredy and Lyon rejoin the crowd, they shot her a look that told her their conversation wasn't over.

"So, Juvia, any birthday requests?" she opened her mouth to say something, but he quickly added. "No? Good, so I hope you enjoy this serenade!"

He cleared his throat, and she could already feel herself and the crowd starting to giggle.

" _Many years ago today something grew_

 _inside of your mother..._

 _That thing was you._

 _YOU!_

 _YOU YOU YOU YOU!_

 _Did she scream did she cry?_

 _Only those that are born are the ones that_

 _Get to die!"_

He paused as he waited for the crowd to laugh at how happily he was singing the song.

" _One more year closer to dying,_

 _Rotting organs, ripping grinding_

 _Biological discordance,_

 _Birthday equals self abhorrence!"_

More laughter.

" _Happy Birthday_

 _You're gonna die_

 _You're getting old and full of hatred,_

 _Take a pill to masturbatred._

 _Children point to you and scream,_

 _Because they will become that thing."_

Juvia couldn't stop laughing as she clapped along with her friends at how hilarious it was to hear him sing such harsh and crude lyrics in a sweet, high pitched voice.

" _One more year of further suffering,_

 _There's no point of fucking bluffing;_

 _Open up your DETHDAY present,_

 _It's a box of fucking nothing!_

 _RSVP PLEASE_

 _For the DETH of thee_

 _You have little time_

 _And you're running out of life_

 _DIE DIE_

 _DETHDAY_

 _BIRTHDAY_

 _DETHDAY_

 _DIE DIE_

 _DETHDAY_

 _BIRTHDAY_

 _DETHDAY_

 _Happy Birthday,_

 _You're gonna die!"_ *

Everyone was laughing and clapping as Gajeel took a bow. He laughed as he held the mike again. "In all seriousness though, happy birthday Juvia; from Phantom Heart to Fairy Tail, we've come this far and we have to keep going!"

She smiled and gave him a hug.

She was the picture of happiness as Lisanna, Mira, Levy, and Erza joined them on the dance floor and started a conversation. She noticed Lucy was not with them.

"Levy, where's Lucy?" she asked.

"She said she needed some air," she shouted over the non-Gajeel music that was now playing. "By the way, Juvia, you look so nice!"

"Thank you!" she turned to the tent exit. She smiled at her friends. "I'm going to go find Lucy so we can all dance together!"

"Okay!"

And so she was off.

* * *

"Gray?" Lucy poked her head out the tent. She'd seen him come in as Juvia was being dragged to the dance floor by Lyon and Meredy, so she'd come around the side to find him. "Can we talk outside?"

"Lucy, I just got here, and I-"

"Please."

He looked at her. She looked nice. Black crop top and a long lilac skirt, he'd expected more cleavage or more leg, but this was the most modest he'd ever seen her. He liked it, and he knew why. He sighed, and tried for a smile. "Okay."

They walked outside together, sitting in one of the benches meant for the party guests. The smell of the flowers Juvia picked was everywhere, but the candle scent was what stood out for Lucy, it was salty, like an ocean breeze.

"I talked to Juvia last night." she said. Not really looking at him.

"I talked with her this morning." he added.

Silence.

"So…?" Lucy kept her head turned.

"So…." Gray kept his eyes on her. "Lu, I'm sorry."

"Why are you apologizing? I'm the one that ruined your relationship! She left you on her birthday when she should be in there dancing with you, feeling like a fucking princess." she sounded bitter, but not like she was going to cry; she'd probably gotten it out of her system already. "And because I left you drunk and unattended it's all ruined."

"It's not your fault I slept with that girl though."

"But I didn't stop you when I saw you leaving the bathroom with her and make your way to the bathhouse. I should've, but I didn't!"

"Wait, you saw me pick her up?" this was the first time he was hearing about this. "I thought you ran off after you felt me up?"

"Okay, first off, I was drunk and I'm a very needy drunk, I didn't know what I was doing and we'll never speak of that again!" she flushed. "Second off, I wasn't going to let my lady boner control me; Juvia and I may not be making friendship bracelets now or ever, but I would never knowingly do that to anyone. And since I didn't know if I could hold myself back after we kissed and….shit went down….the best thing to do was leave before making a decision I might regret."

"Fair enough." he said, feeling his cheeks heat up a little too. "But...why didn't you stop me?"

She paused. Through the tent, they could hear Gajeel sing the rather inappropriate birthday song he'd chosen and the crowd that was loving said song.

"Because I was hurt….I know I'm not entitled to be hurt, but I was….I was so hurt you'd chosen someone who looked like me, rather than running after me."

"You...why? You ran from me, Lucy, and I was too drunk to even know your name." he laughed, trying to lighten the mood. When he saw her forced smile, he sorta realized maybe laughing had been the wrong move. "You wanted me to chase you….cause you were hoping….I'd chose you, weren't you…? Because….you love me….don't you?"

She laughed, trying to escape from the topic, but broke down once he put his hand on her shoulder. From inside you could hear the crowd erupt in laughter once more.

"Lucy, I broke up with Juvia, because I knew she no longer belonged to me, and I couldn't keep her from being happy…" she looked at him with hopeful eyes. "But Lu….I still love her." she nodded wiping her eyes.

"I know." she said, getting up and brushing off her skirt. "But, I won't wait around forever, so…." she gave him a weak smile. "Don't go falling in love with me once it's too late, okay?"

The crowed erupted in claps and screams. "Wouldn't dream of it." he smirked at her.

She wiped her eyes and showed him her clean hands. "Water proof or it's not worth wearing!" she laughed and made her way back to the tent.

She opened the flap and came face to face with Juvia. Lucy had to hold down a gasp; she'd never seen her so beautiful.

"Lucy! Juvia was looking for you!" she smiled.

"You were?" she asked, a little guilt rising since she hadn't revealed the whole truth to her last night.

"Yes, we wanted to dance!" she linked her arms with hers. Then leaned in and whispered. "Don't worry; Juvia still doesn't like you."

Lucy laughed, "Fair enough! Truce for tonight?"

"And only for tonight, Blondie!"

Lucy smiled as they both made their way back to the dance floor.

She missed the knowing smile Juvia shot to Gray, who was leaning against one of the entrance pillars.

He watched both walk away, shaking his head. While he would never deny women were amazing and beautiful things, he was going to enjoy not getting his heart strings tugged on for a little bit.

He grabbed a drink from one of the waiters, chugged it down, and joined the party.

Now there was only one person missing.

* * *

* . 

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I KNOW THIS IS LATE AND I'M SORRY.

On Christmas I didn't feel like writing, and yesterday I started writing a little too late, and now TA-DA! I hope everything if fine, and no, Gray and Lucy will not have anymore moments in this fic, next chapter is pure NAVIIIIIAAAAA!

And then after that chapter goes up hopefully tomorrow cause Imma keep working now that I have the flow going on, I have decided to add a little bonus; no it's not more Navia, that's another surprise which goes up in january; 'why?' you ask, cause I swear on my life, that one is going to be a chapter a day fic, THIS I SWEAR!

Anyways, see you hopefully tomorrow! I hope you all have had lovely holidays and my heart goes out to all the people that struggle with family over these occasions 3

If you ever need to talk, hit me up on my tumblr, link in my profile.

(btw pre-computer sketches of some fanart for this fic are somewhere in my tumblr tagged as #ABTTIAGT sketches, they look a little bad now, but hopefully they'll look better after electronically drawn, but if you wanna look at that now please be my guests :3)

Anyways Imma go back to that pt. 2 for y'all!

Loads of love, Baker.


	16. The Coming Of Age Ceremony pt 2

The evening was going better than she'd expected. Apparently, she'd never been the one planning the party. Right before her mission with Gajeel a week back, he'd told everyone it wasn't only a coming of age ceremony, but also her birthday, which meant everyone had brought her gifts, and then made her open them in this huge 'my gift is better!' 'no mine is!' contests between the boys, while the girls gathered in a circle as they excitedly told Juvia how they'd picked everything out.

Mira and Erza has also baked her a cake, which they'd all eaten after they'd had dinner. She was surprised at how good it tasted, not that Erza or Mira were bad cooks or anything; they were certainly better than Juvia.

The rest of the night passed quickly as she danced and felt herself at pure, undeniable bliss for the first time in a long time. She'd danced with her friends, Gajeel dragged her into a 'father-daughter-dance' and Levy went along with it saying she was Juvia's mother, which she found hilarious. She'd even shared a dance with Gray, who was as good a dancer as she remembered, and had clearly gone shopping. How could she tell? First off, cause he hadn't somehow lost his clothes by this point, but also because she'd seen that swirly shirt on Natsu a few days ago.

Everything was going great until the music stopped and the lights dimmed. Lyon took the center of the dance floor and made her blood run cold.

"Everyone, the moon with be centered in a few minutes, so I ask you to gather around for the Coming of Age Ceremony. Where's our birthday girl?"

The dance floor started to rise from the ground, becoming a stage. Now with the higher ground she could see Wendy next to Lyon, who was holding the Water Hawthorn and Water Hyacinth, looking stunning in her gold dress.

Juvia could feel a blush creep up her cheeks and a lump in her throat. She'd forgotten. She'd completely forgotten to get someone else to read the chant, that and the fact that the book was MISSING! What was she going to do, she couldn't tell them this wasn't happening. She'd said this was a ceremony, she hadn't even put her birthday in the invitation, and now she was supposed to tell them she couldn't go through with it? After Meredy and Lyon made the dress, and Gray got the flowers, and everyone had come to see her become 'a water woman', rather than 'a water girl.'

"Juvia? Come on stage! Come and become a true Water mage!" Lyon called out to her, extending out his hand.

A light shone down on her, and she could feel tears form embarrassment pushing into her eyes. She blinked hard, trying to keep it together. She couldn't bring herself to resist as Lucy and Levi dragged her to the stage.

All she could do was mutter a weak, inaudible "Please don't…."

She could feel sweat trailing down her spine and her hands shaking as she made her way up the steps to stand next to Lyon.

"Lyon, can I-?" she reached for the mike hesitantly.

"Right right, give it up for Juvia!" Lyon placed the mid on the stand in front of her and stepped off the stage as Wendy handed her the flowers.

"Good luck!" she smiled and stepped off as well.

Juvia was aware of how poor her posture was, slouched and shaking.

"Um," She looked out at the crowd, feeling so small under the spotlight of the moon. "Good evening every one, uh, Juvia….Juvia has something to tell you…."

The crowd was starting to pick up on her mood, and concerned whispers where emerging from her friends. She lowered the flowers and looked out at them, trying really hard to not cry. "Juvia can't do this-!"

"Without me!"

Everyone turned to the entrance.

Natsu was standing there, looking a little sweaty. He tossed his jacket and a gift bag onto the nearest table as he made his way to the stage.

Juvia stood there shocked, and a little awkwardly. He made his way to the top of the stage, keeping his eyes locked on hers.

"Sorry for the delay everybody," he smirked at her still confused and surprised face. "But I'm here now and that's what matters." he raised her hands and helped her into a better posture, bringing the hair out of her eyes, he slipped his hands past her cheeks so he could cup her face. He pressed his forehead to hers as the lights disappeared.

It was suddenly only him, her, and the moon.

She gasped as he went the extra step and pressed his nose to hers gently. "You ready?" he whispered. His breath smelled like mint and smoke. She was weirded out but she was so overjoyed and still a little shocked that she didn't care.

She nodded, feeling happy tears in her eyes. She laughed, "Yes." she hopped her breath smelled more of cake than all the other junk she'd been eating all night.

The moon light suddenly turned a reddish pink, and Juvia could feel her body become liquid. She tried really hard to contain it, but a brush of Natsu's thumb across her temple calmed her down.

He laughed. "Clearly someone didn't read up on how this works." she looked at him puzzled. "Trust me."

She closed her eyes. She could feel her entire body liquefying. Her feet left the ground as she became weightless, she held her arms steady, trying not to drop the flowers, though she could feel them floating on her hand rather than holding them steady.

She could hear the crowd gasping in awe, and she wished she could see what she looked like, because her mascara and eyeliner were not water proof, and that was an issue.

All her worried melted when she heard Natsu start the chant.

"On this night, under this Moon,

I bind my soul with you."

She felt her heart beating faster.

"I bind my heart, string to string.

I bind my mind, nerve by nerve."

She didn't dare open her eyes as the crowd started to gasp even more. She'd been doing a good job of keeping her eyes closed, until she heard someone say 'Look at the glow from her chest!' that she HAD to open them. She peeked from one eye and ended with both of them wide open in amazement.

From her chest and from Natsu's too, there was a glow. Her's was silver and his was gold. She closed her eyes again, pushing herself closer to Natsu.

"As tide shall rise, and sun shall fall,

Your power will begin to grow.

Feel the Moon inside your veins,

And let this energy make its claims."

The gasps from the crowd were of amazement and joy and she couldn't help but laugh with them as a warm and tingly feeling spread through her liquid body.

"The crescent Moon is now you're home,

Know now, you will never be alone."

She could've sworn she heard Natsu choke up before he continued with a little laugh.

"Come every night,

Our moon fulfills her plight.

To claim your heart, and claim your head,

And fill you with strength that meets no end."

She could feel the power start to fill her body, she felt stronger...and happier, not to mention warm.

"The water is your refuge, and this bond our sanctuary.

All coming hardships and struggles, we now together carry."

She heard him sniffle once more as he laughed. Her body began to solidify again and she felt her feet touch the ground.

"You're a Mage of the Moon and her Ocean,

Remain courageous for it is your devotion."

As he said the final words, the flowers flew from her hands and disappeared into the fading red moonlight.

She wrapped her hands around Natsu's waist, opening her eyes in time to watch the red moonlight and the glows from their hearts disappear. She took a good look at his face, he was a little teary eyed as he looked at her.

All of their friends were laughing and clapping and cheering. She reached to wipe his eyes and he did the same. Suddenly she remembered her make up and pulled herself closer to him, a little embarrassed.

"Is Juvia's make up running?" she asked him with a little laugh.

"Does it matter?" he said a little breathless, his hand still cupping her face.

"Yeah! Juvia's gonna look like a wet monster if her mascara and eyeliner are dripping down her face!"

"Well," he said as he wiped the little smudging from her eyes. "To me you always look lovely."

She smiled at him.

She would've kissed him, she wanted him to kiss her; but her friends took to the stage and pulled them apart as they clamored around her to ask questions and geeked out about the ceremony.

As she listened to all their talking and joined in every now and then, she looked over at Natsu. He was talking with Gajeel, Gray, and Elfman, who all seemed to be yelling at him.

She touched her heart, feeling it beat faster. She smiled to herself.

He was her sanctuary.

Now and forever.

* * *

The party took a little longer to die down, and in the end, she owned it to the dj who finally decided to play a slow song past one in the morning.

Juvia looked over at her friends enjoying the evening on the now once again dance floor. Erza was dancing with Jellal, Lyon and meredy were awkwardly sitting around, probably trying to figure out how to ask each other to dance, Elfman and Evergreen were making out in one of the corners of the dance floor while Freed and Laxus shared a shy dance, both trying to hide how happy they were.

She kept her eyes on Gajeel and Levi, both beaming with joy as they danced together. Levy's dress swished behind her as Gajeel picked her up and twirled her around.

Juvia took another bite of her second piece of cake, even Lucy had found herself a dancing partner in Loke, who picked the perfect time to come back and visit from the spirit world.

"Juvia?" Lisanna tapped on her shoulder as she made her way to the dance floor with Bickslow, "Someone's been staring at you for a while now, why don't you go talk to them?" she smirked as she pointed at Natsu, who ducked behind the flowers at his table.

She smiled at Lisanna, and excused herself from Mira and Laki.

She walked over to Natsu, who was still pretending he was not there.

"Hey." She tapped him in the shoulder.

"Hey! Hey, hi!" he stood and smiled at her.

He wasn't that much taller than her, but now, that they were both feeling awkward and shy she could feel those extra inches making her feel small under his gaze.

They stood there awkwardly and Juvia was starting to regret coming. Natsu was about to say something stupid when Gray hit him on the arm. "Ask her to dance, dumbass, before I do it."

"Okay, you know what!?" he turned ready to fight Gray but the smug grin on his face told Natsu there was better things to do. He turned to Juvia, clearing his throat and smiled. "Would you do me the honor, miss Lockser, to share this dance with me?"

Juvia curtsied, "You have the honor, monsieur!" before taking his hand and making their way to the dance floor.

Gray shook his head, a small smiled on his face. "Those two are such big losers."

They joined the gentle swaying side to side of the rest of the couples on the dance floor. She smiled as she looked over him. He was wearing the same outfit they'd gotten him together. She giggled a little at their shoes; both pairs were covered in spikes.

"You look beautiful." he said as he repositioned his hands so they were not on her skin but on her dress.

She laughed, "No fair! That's what Juvia was going to tell Natsu."

"Really?" He laughed. "But you're the beautiful one!"

"Well then," Juvia fixed his collar. "Then Natsu's the handsome one!"

"That is a much appreciated compliment." he grinned at her.

They looked into each other's eyes. Juvia wrapped her arms wound him, bringing his face closer to her. Natsu pulled her closer to, placing his forehead on hers.

"You looked even more beautiful up there, covered in moonlight."

She giggled, "Juvia turned into water and her makeup was runny though."

"So what?" he placed his nose on hers. "To me you were, and still are, the belle of the ball."

"When did Natsu get so smooth?" she nuzzled him. "Natsu came to Juvia's rescue there, you know?" she smiled up at him, and then her face was filled with confusion and wonder. She raised a brow at him. "How did Natsu know the chant?"

"Well…."

* * *

 _Natsu wanted to talk to Juvia; no correction, he_ _had_ _to! He made his way to her house nervously. He wanted to ask her to let him read the chant. He really wanted to do it, and he felt it would work if he did it. He wasn't sure if the mage had to love the reciter back, but he knew._

 _He knew he loved her._

 _He reached Juvia's street and was making his way up the steps of her condo, when he saw Gray make his way out her house, shutting the door quietly and gently._

 _He must've sensed Natsu was about to yell at him, for Gray slammed his hand over Natsu's mouth and pulled him down the steps and a few streets away._

" _It's like magic!" he said in a sarcastic happy voice. "You appear right before I go see you!"_

" _Yeah okay why were you at Juv-wait you were coming to see me?" Natsu looked at him puzzled. "Why? You hate my house."_

" _Because you're going to need this," he handed Natsu the book he and Juvia had been looking at when they went shopping. "Learn the chant, because if you don't, she's going to have no one to read it for her. She's yours now, Natsu; I've let go of her."_

" _What?! Wait, did you dump her!?" he said, a little glad, but also a little mad. "Gray, you can't do that to her!" Natsu said as he tried to give him the book back._

" _No, Natsu, I'm doing this FOR her!" he smiled at Natsu, which froze him in place. "Trust me, she's going to love this."_

" _But, what if I can't do it and I mess it up for her?"_

" _Natsu, it'll work, and better than you ever imagined."_

* * *

"Let's just say I have someone looking out for me;" he kissed the top of her forehead. "For us."

Natsu flushed, pulling away after realizing what he'd done. "Sorry!" he looked at her from the corner of his eye. Her eyes were wide and her cheeks were red. "Juvia?"

She broke into a grin and threw herself at him. Her arms wrapped around his neck and he felt himself being pulled down until their lips met. It was a sweet kiss, where they pressed their lipst together and that was that. She pulled away and laughed at his shocked and flushed expression.

Their friends erupted in claps, and Juvia couldn't help but think that Meredy and Lyon now had a completely different conversation to finish with her.

Natsu snapped out of his funk and wrapped his arms around her waist. "That's the last time you catch me by surprise, Lockser."

"What's Dragneel gonna do about it?" she matched his flirty tone.

He felt a shiver go down his spine; his last name had never been spoken with more emotion and want. "This."

He kissed her properly this time, making the crowd around them go wild, which Natsu couldn't help but laugh at; he was sure not everyone knew about Juvia and Gray's break up.

They broke their kiss and laughed.

"How long has Natsu wanted to do that?" Juvia said as the music started to flood back.

"Longer than you think." he said as he repositioned his hand so they could dance.

"We can't dance like this!" Juvia giggled. "This is a fast song!"

"Juvia Lockser," he smirked down at her. "you just fired me up!"

The drop of the song came and he thrust her away from him and pulled her back, wrapping her in his arms so her back was pressed against him. He thrust her away once more, spinning her as he pulled her back, and positioned her so they could waltz to the beat of the song.

Juvia followed with the moves, a little bit of surprise evident on her face. She laughed as she settled in a steady pace to dance along with him. "And Natsu said he couldn't dance!"

"I may have or may have not been late due to taking last minute dance classes." He laughed, a little embarrassed.

At some point the dance floor had cleared and everyone was just watching them, with a mixture of awe, and love, and a little bit of envy at how absorbed with each other they were. The way they moved, the way they laughed, the way they did not notice everyone staring at them because they were engrossed with each other.

Even Gray couldn't deny he'd never seen Juvia more radiant than now.

* * *

"Natsu didn't have to walk Juvia home." she smiled at him.

"And let you carry all these boxes and bags? No way!" He said as he balanced the piles of gifts she'd gotten. He'd refused to let her carry anything except her purse and his jacket.

When they reached her house, Natsu walked in and dropped off all the gifts in her living room and returned to the door where Juvia was leaning against the frame waiting for him.

She looked tired physically, but her eyes were on him and totally lovesick. He didn't care about her messy hair or her slightly smudge makeup, because she was here, with him, looking at him with those happy blue eyes; and that's all that mattered.

"Natsu needs to head home now, it's getting late." she said sweetly, leaned on the frame opposite to him.

"It's only three in the morning the night's still young." he matched her tone.

"Dummy." she sounded tired.

"Fine, I'll take my leave." he stood to tower over her. "But before I leave, I have something for you." he walked over to the pile of gifts, grabbing the little bag he'd brought for her. He extended his hand out to her, and she followed him to the bathroom. "Close your eyes."

She did. She felt something fall on her chest, so she immediately knew it was a necklace. "Can Juvia open her eyes now?"

"Only if she promises not to hate the gift." he laughed, a little nervous.

"Juvia will love anything Natsu gives her." she opened her eyes, and couldn't contain how happy she was; she even started to tear up. "Natsu!" she couldn't even speak.

It was a very simple gift compared to other gifts she'd been forced to open by her friends at the party. It was a gold chain with god beads and a single diamond moon pendant.

"Not a bad choice?" Natsu laughed as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

"The best choice!" she smiled at their reflections.

They walked over to the door again. They both had this need to have the other stay; to not be apart. But this was neither the time of the place. If they rushed, there was this fear of breaking; just like Juvia and Gray had.

"So….when can I see you again?" Natsu asked her, feeling more sheepish than before.

"Doesn't Natsu see Juvia everyday?" she smirked at him.

"Yeah but-"

Juvia stole a kiss and pushed him out of her house, "Tomorrow at eleven, in front of the movies. Don't be late." she winked at him and closed the door.

She slid down the door onto the floor, feeling her cheeks warm and her heart beating. She sighted. Everything was perfect now.

She heard Natsu scream and shortly after she heard glass break.

She rushed out of the door, scared something had happened to him, but faced and embarrassed looking Natsu, awkwardly standing next to a smashed post lamp on the ground. The pole had been clearly melted off, thus why it'd fallen down.

After a long pause Natsu turned to Juvia. "That was not me…."

She laughed and pulled him into another kiss. "Natsu's so dumb."

"Am not; I'll Have you know I've made excellent decisions."

"Like which ones?"

"Like you." he kissed her nose. And then, a little more bitterly added. "And not choosing the grey swirl shirt, because Gray was wearing it and he definitely did look better than me."

She laughed as she pulled him inside. "You're staying here, not because Juvia want you too," she laughed at his mock-hurt face. "But because Juvia does not trust you to not destruct more city property."

He stuck his tongue out at her and closed the door behind them.

And he had to admit; simply laying next to each other and talking until they fell asleep after such a long day was nice. Specially because this meant tomorrow was hopefully the first of the many upcoming times he'd wake up next to her.

* * *

Is this a little short to be the final chapter? Yeah a little, BUT!

That's only cause you have a WHOLE ONLY NAVIA STORY COMING WITH A CHAPTER EVERY DAY STARTING JANUARY FIRST AS SOON AS THAT CLOCK TURNS TO MIDNIGHT! (December 31st midnight that is)

Anyways, I hope y'all liked the fic, I know there was a dip of time between chapters and that was a huge bummer I'm super sorry, I promise to try and never do that again!

This is the end of A Bad Thing Turned Into A Good Thing, but do look forward to more fics in the future!

INFACT!

Why do I let y'all pick?

WHAT? THATS RIGHT!

I HAVE A LIST OF FICS AND PAIRS THAT I WANT TO WRITE ABOUT SO GO LOOK AT THE POLL THINGY THAT I DO NOT KNOW HOW TO USE OR HOW IT WORKS AND VOTE ON ONE OF THE PAIRINGS YOU WANT ME TO WRITE ABOUT, AND I WILL CROSS ONE FIC OFF THE LIST! DO NOT WORRY, THAT POLL WITH RE-OPEN AFTER EVERY MAJOR FIC I WRITE* SO THAT YOU GET ANOTHER CHANCE TO GET THE PAIRING YOU WANTED!

Keep in mind though, for some pairs I have multiple fic ideas, for others just one, and some aren't even on the list yet cause I haven't thought of anything or I am not yet that engrossed or in the fandom at all.

Anyways, happy holidays and new years to y'all, you've been so kind and supportive and i can feel myself growing as a writer because of you 3

Loads of love and hope for a better and brighter 2017, Baker.

(*aside from that navia fic which is still gonna happen)


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